Judging quality
Genuine teeth show fine longitudinal enamel ridges and a hollow pulp cavity in the root. Composite teeth built from fragments show color mismatch between crown and root.
Fossil
Mosasaur Tooth
The conical, ridged tooth of a Cretaceous marine reptile — a lizard that returned to the sea and grew to seventeen metres. Moroccan phosphate beds supply most of the market, often with root and jaw section intact.
Care
Some Moroccan matrix contains pyrite; keep humidity moderate. Dust rather than wash.
History & lore
The first mosasaur skull, taken from a Maastricht chalk quarry in the 1770s, became a war prize of the French Revolutionary army and helped establish the idea of extinction.
Cultural history, recorded as tradition rather than as medical or scientific claim.
Common questions about Mosasaur Tooth
- What is Mosasaur Tooth?
- The conical, ridged tooth of a Cretaceous marine reptile — a lizard that returned to the sea and grew to seventeen metres. Moroccan phosphate beds supply most of the market, often with root and jaw section intact.
- How hard is Mosasaur Tooth and what is it made of?
- Mosasaur Tooth is a Fossil-family mineral with the composition Ca5(PO4)3(OH,F). It crystallizes in the hexagonal system and rates 4.5-5 on the Mohs hardness scale. It occurs in brown, black, tan.
- Where does Mosasaur Tooth come from?
- Notable localities for Mosasaur Tooth include Khouribga, Morocco, Netherlands (Maastricht), Kansas, USA.
- How do you tell good Mosasaur Tooth from filler?
- Genuine teeth show fine longitudinal enamel ridges and a hollow pulp cavity in the root. Composite teeth built from fragments show color mismatch between crown and root.
- How do you care for Mosasaur Tooth?
- Some Moroccan matrix contains pyrite; keep humidity moderate. Dust rather than wash.
See it in person
Photographs only go so far
Both rooms are open six days a week, and there is always someone happy to pull pieces out of the case so you can compare them under the light.