1. Mainland China dealers -- Most fake fossils sold on eBay are by communist Mainland China dealers (especially "amber" with butterflies, scorpions, and dragon flies). Genuine fossils of vertebrates cannot be legally shipped from Mainland China. All shippers (FedEx, DHL, etc.) as well as the Chinese Postal Service will seize those kinds of genuine fossils, but they allow the massive flow of fakes to be shipped unimpeded. However, Hong Kong is not part of Mainland China and fossils may be legally exported from Hong Kong.

2. Hidden Feedback - when a seller chooses to hide his feedback comments, it is solely because he does not want you to see the negative comments left by previous buyers. More than likely it was a warning that the seller's fossils are fakes. This is a significant indicator that the seller is a fraud. An honest seller is proud of his feedback and wants the world to see it.

3. Excessive Negative feedback -- always review the feedback of the seller before you bid. An honest seller will protect his feedback rating by providing you with good service, product, and value. Therefore, less than a 99% feedback rating should be cause for serious concern, so be sure to read the comment(s) left by the buyer(s) who gave the negative feedback(s). However, sometimes a buyer can be unreasonable and leave negative feedback for something totally out of the control of the seller (such as a package delayed in the mail), so don't dismiss a seller simply because he or she does not have a perfect 100% rating.

4. They accept only Western Union payments -- this is the single most significant warning sign that the dealer is a thief. Virtually all thieves demand this form of payment. Further, contrary to common sense (which Western Union seems to lack), the thief does not need to know the "SECRET ANSWER" to collect the funds that you wire to him. So don't think you have that leverage over him. The reason that thieves won't let you pay via PayPal or credit card is because those methods give you recourse when the item proves to be fake; since you can have the payment cancelled or reversed. When you make a Western Union payment, you immediately lose your money and the thief stops replying to your emails.

5. Short time in business -- of course we all have to start somewhere, but the typical fraudulent dealer operates under an eBay ID for only a few months until he gets too many negative feedbacks. Then he'll close the account and open up another account and operate under that ID until it too gets too many negative feedbacks.

6. Stolen text or images -- since fraudulent dealers are here for a short time to rip off as many people as possible as quickly as possible, they never take time to do their own research (then again, how do you research a fake?). So they steal the text from other eBay sellers. If you see stolen text, at the minimum the dealer lacks ethics and honesty. But too-often they are selling fake items as well.

7. Product selection -- look at the dealer's other auctions. If they are selling clearly fake items such as a "genuine rare" bird fossil for a 'Buy it Now' price of only $49 then you can be assured that the rest of his stuff is fake too.

8. Insufficient photographs -- to keep you from detecting a fake, the seller will often neglect to provide sufficient clear photographs, or they will be too small, or too far away, or too poorly lit to judge authenticity.

9. Exorbitant shipping fees -- many dishonest dealers (especially Mainland Chinese dealers) violate eBay policy by charging outrageous shipping fees that are 3 to 5 times the actual cost. Although buyers will lower their bids accordingly, this is an attempt by the seller to move the bulk of the transaction amount into the shipping cost so as to circumvent eBay fees. They are happy to sell a $50 item for $1 and charge you $100 in shipping fees because then they pay the eBay commission on only the $1 ending bid and not on the $100 shipping fee. Meanwhile, the actual shipping cost is 1/5 the price that they charge you. This low-life practice is of course unfair to the honest sellers who pay eBay commission fees.

10. The seller uses a "private auction" format -- they do this so that other eBayers cannot contact the bidder to warn them about the fake AND so that the seller can bid up the price of his own fossil by using multiple eBay accounts (this illegal practice is called shill bidding). Fossil collectors are a friendly bunch and watch out for their own. Typically, if you are bidding on a fake, one of these folks will take it upon themselves to warn you. The dishonest sellers know this, and so they use private auctions so that no one can contact you.

11. Few or no bids -- if the auction end is fast approaching and there are still no bids on a suspicious fossil, it is most likely because other eBayers have recognized it as a fake.

12. The seller is clueless -- If a seller says he found the egg in a river, or while he was digging in his back yard, or that it came "from the 38th parallel of Missouri during a meteror strike", or that it came from a famous deceased (unnamed) paleontologist's collection, or that his mother found it while on a tropical island cruise, or any other silly story, you can be assured that it is not a real fossil egg. These kind of people are quick to proclaim any round stone or common concretion a dinosaur egg (without any expertise or even the most basic geological knowledge) in order to get your money. The critical point is to buy from an established, experienced dealer with plenty of positive feedback. The irony is that because real eggs are more expensive than fake eggs, inexperienced fossil collectors avoid the honest dealers because of the higher cost.

13. Second Chance Offers -- Scammers will often email losing bidders a fake "second chance" offer. They pretend to be the seller and offer you the item at a reduced price. All legimimate "second chance" eBay emails will also appear in your "My Messages" section. When you reply to a fake "second chance" offer, at best you provide them with your eBay password, and at worst you use Western Union to send them money for an item that they do not even possess.

#2. INDICATIONS OF A FAKE DINOSAUR EGG:

1. Too perfect -- many fake eggs on eBay are perfectly round and have a consistent unvarying color. Real eggs are rarely perfectly round (I've yet to see one) and always vary in color shade throughout the shell surface. Conversely, every day we see Chinese dealers listing blobs of cast resin that are shaped like congealed rabbit turds which look nothing like any imaginable dinosaur egg.

2. Color -- real dinosaur eggs are NEVER white, off-white, or yellow-white. Since inexperienced collectors expect that dinosaur eggs should be white, that is the color that fakes are often made. A typical technique is to embed a ceramic egg, an ostrich egg, or a naturally occurring concretion in artificial matrix and pass this off as a dinosaur egg. These appear often on eBay. That said, sometime a caclite "crust" is present which is indeed white, but it never covers the entire egg. The true color of genuine eggs ranges from black (if treated with a preservative), to light gray (from the calcite), to reddish (from the iron oxide in the rock), and to brown (the color of the sandstone). It all depends on the color of the matrix in which they are found. Further, the shading of the egg varies constantly throughout the specimen. This is hard to fake so most fakes are simply one shade. Lastly, when you are presented with an egg that is broken open, if the inside is a different color than the matrix, then it is a fake. Fossil eggs are always exactly the same color inside and out, because exactly the same matrix material is inside and out. When you see a different color inside (typically referred to as a "yolk") then you know that you are looking at anything *except* a fossil egg. Possibly it is instead a geode, nodule, concretion (most common), or modern stomach stone.

3. Shape -- real eggs are never perfectly round. All are misshaped or flattened to some degree. This is caused by the weight of the thousands of yards of overhead soil and rock for millions of years that compressed and distorted the shapes. Most intentionally made fakes have a perfect round or capsule shape. In reality, the larger the genuine egg, the more the distortion and cracking because the compression and shearing forces were absorbed by a larger surface area.

4. Weight -- since fakes are made from resin, ceramic, clay, concrete, rock, etc.; the weight of a specimen is not a reliable way to judge authenticity.

5. Cracks -- the array of cracks is perfect throughout the specimen. In a real specimen the cracks are inconsistent; and so it may be crumpled in one part, fine cracks in another, and have large cracks in another part. Also, virtually all genuine eggs have cracks while many fakes are completely devoid of cracks. (These are typically just smooth rocks, which the seller claims is a dino egg). I have sold over 4,000 dinosaur eggs from half a dozen species and every single one had cracks caused when the egg was crushed by the weight of overhead soil and rock. Besides, dino eggs look better with cracks.

6. Matrix -- many fake eggs are mounted in a "matrix" comprised of mortar and crushed rock from the dig site (in order to impart natural color to the fake matrix), while others are simply embedded in colored concrete. However, many genuine eggs in genuine matrix have undergone repairs and/or strengthening with the same kind of mortar/crushed matrix compound, so the presence of this material is not automatic grounds for dismissal. With regard to the type of matrix, it is always comprised of some form of sandstone because the eggs were laid (and often buried by the mother) on dry land. Fossil eggs are NEVER FOUND IN LIMESTONE or other types of rock that were formed in water. This would be impossible because reptiles lay their eggs only on dry land because eggs laid in water would cause the embryo to suffocate and die within minutes. Only amphibians and fish laid eggs in water and their eggs never fossilized. So if the "egg" is in limestone or similar matrix, then you know that it is something other than an egg -- usually a worthless concretion or a common fossil sea urchin. If you do not know for sure what it is, that does not mean that it could be an egg. The goal is to learn to recognize a real egg, not to become an expert on the vast multitude of things that are not eggs.

7. They burn -- the most crudest of fakes are made from cast resin which melts and burns. Because of the high ignition temperature, you must hold a lighter to the specimen for 15 - 20 seconds before it starts to burn, sputter, and melt. (Others jab it with a red-hot paperclip instead.) Nothing will happen to a genuine fossil because it is rock. However, the better made fakes will not melt so this is just one method that simply eliminates the cheapest fakes from many of the Chinese dealers.

8. Concretions -- a large number of naturally occurring roundish stones are offered by charlatans on eBay accompanied with grandiose claims of "rare dinosaur egg!" and "150% money-back guarantee" which never include reimbursement of the shipping fees. These are most often concretions, which form over millions of years via two different processes. Click here to learn more about these fascinating but worthless objects. Highly recommended reading!!

9. They are hollow -- many concretions falsely sold as dinosaur eggs are hollow. GENUINE DINOSAUR EGGS ARE NEVER HOLLOW.

10. They are made of limestone -- limestone is a gray-white sedimentary rock that formed only at the bottom of saltwater seas. The calcium in limestone comes from the dissolved shells of billions of mollusks, corals, crinoids, and other life forms that extracted the mineral from the sea water to make their shells and exoskeletons. In many cases, pieces of the shell or exoskeleton are still discernable in the limestone. Since reptiles, dinosaurs, and birds did not lay eggs in water, their fossilized eggs are *never* found in limestone nor comprised of the material. A vast swath of the Midwest USA was covered by the sea during the time of the dinosaurs. These areas also have large amounts of concretions that are often passed off as dinosaur eggs to the unsuspecting.

#3. PHOTOS OF FAKE FOSSIL EGGS OFFERED ON EBAY:

MOST RECENT

The following photo of an alleged dinosaur egg was by US dealer drumcarfar listed 16-July 2007 from auction 120142874429:

We know this is not a genuine egg because it is off-white in color. Real fossilized eggs are never white, off-white, or beige. Further, even with the too-small poorly-lit photos we can see that there is no shell or shell-like surface texture. The back-story that his mother found it on an island cruise should also alert you because tropical islands are mostly volcanic, limestone, and/or sand. Anyone who has taken a basic geology or paleontology course knows that terrestrial fossils are never found in such locations – it is impossible. Other factors that scream "fake!" are that the seller doesn't specialize in fossils, has no geological/paleontological training, does not reveal place found (a fundamental basic when selling fossils), does not reveal the name of the "experts" that examined the alleged fossil, and has a low feedback number. IMPORTANT! The seller did the honorable thing and removed the item from eBay after I educated him. This has never happened in all the years that I have been fighting fakes on eBay.

Mainland Chinese dealer "tianboyiyuan" (eBay store Tianbo-Inc-Store) accounts for most of the fakes currently offered on eBay as of June 2007. His latest junk is listed here. With a 91.5% feedback rating caused by 7 negative feedbacks for selling fakes, it is a wonderment that bidders still buy his wares. Yet many eBayers bid anyway in the irrational hope that they will actually obtain a premium fossil for 1/10 its market value. It bears repeating yet again: all fossils sold by Mainland Chinese dealers are either fakes or replicas. You can obtain genuine Chinese fossils only from Hong Kong -- or from US and European dealers who obtain them from Hong Kong. The following four photos of fakes are from his most recent auctions:

The honor for the most common type of fake offered by a US seller goes to "rocksalez" (e.g. auction 280129625254, 280129054008, and 280129054017) who misrepresents these worthless limestone concretions as dinosaur eggs:

They have been listed for years on eBay and sold successfully because of their low price. Various dealers sell them sporadically, but there always seems to be at least one listed at all times.

The most prolific US seller of fake dinosaur eggs is seller "junkinjak1" who has been knowingly selling worthless rocks and concretions for more than two years on eBay. This guy is a junk dealer who has no experience or education related to paleontology, yet claims to have found them in a secret ravine somewhere in north Arkansas. None of his fossils are genuine, as they are just ordinary rocks. Indeed, he threatened to dump thousands onto the market in retaliation for my inclusion of him on this page. Here are his latest listings. This dealer defends himself by saying that he never claims that they are "genuine" dinosaur eggs, and that therefore he is being honest. Other times he claims that they are genuine, but then uses a question mark in the auction title which, according to him, means that his claim is not valid. And yes, eBay is well aware of his dishonesty but they collect commissions on his deceptive sales so they will do nothing about it. Here are photos from his latest auctions in June 2007:

The following photo of an alleged dinosaur egg (which is actually just a rock) is by US dealer topaz.mineral.expl listed 2-June 2007 from auction 120127847747. This may be an instance of an honest mistake because this dealer has a high feedback rating and only a handful of negatives. But his specialty appears to be minerals and this auction demonstrates his clear lack of knowledge with fossils.

RESIN EGGS

"Eggs" of this cast resin type with the pocked "shell" are the most common fakes offered on eBay. About a dozen of these fakes appear on eBay each week of various shapes, colors, and sizes -- always offered by ethically-challenged Mainland Chinese sellers with low feedback numbers; always with $100++ shipping costs; and they never let you pay with a method that allows you to get your money back (such as with a credit card or PayPal) for fraud. There are so many offered that I won't even attempt to list them by seller and auction number.

WHITE SHELLED EGGS

The next three photos show the white shell and perfectly round shape that inexperienced collectors are attracted to.

This so-called 13-egg nest, another in a series by Chinese seller "luckantique1818" was listed on July 29, 2004. The nest is fake because fossil eggs are never white, never shiny, never coated with a substance that is a different color than the matrix, and are mounted in a synthetic concrete matrix. Further, he is pulling his same old tired Chinese scam of over-charging $465 for shipping and refusing a payment method that gives the buyer protection.

This fake egg by Chinese dealer "luckyrubyantique" does not resemble any genuine egg in existence. I believe that the intent was to create a fake Tarbosaur egg, but Tarbosaur eggs are neither white nor smooth shelled like this one. And amazingly, the shipping for this worthless fake was $448 -- and another $58 for insurance!

This auction for 5 "eggs" was from US seller "spookychicks" which was listed on 12-Jan-2005. Since the seller claimed that they were found in a limestone quarry (which can only form in sea bottoms) we know that they cannot be dinosaur eggs -- since all dinosaurs laid their eggs on land.

Here is another Mainland China dealer with a fake egg. This time seller "saillarge2004" offered a capsule-shaped Hadrosaur egg -- which never existed. Other indicators of a fake are the bogus white shell smeared with mud to "age" it and the colored concrete matrix. And the final sleaziness is the $150 cost to ship it to you.

This fake 6-egg nest by Chinese seller "aamei888" was listed on August 1, 2004. By now you should be able to immediately recognize this as a fake based on the color alone.

But just in case you're not sure, here's a fake 10-egg nest also by Chinese seller "aamei888" that was listed on August 1, 2004. This is getting easier isn't it?

These next two photos were by Chinese seller "market-0-distance" that has all the hallmarks of a fake that you should now be comfortable with: colored-concrete matrix that isn't even matched to the color of the correct rock formation, too large shell fragments that are smeared with a compound to "age" them (you can see the wipe marks), the shell appears to be ceramic and certainly isn't stone, and there are no smatterings of gray coloring which is present on virtually all genuine Hadrosaur eggs from China (it comes from the calcium that was present in the egg when laid).

The next two photos are a little more convincing. But the perfect round shape, concrete matrix, wrong coloring, and wrong shell texture are indicators of a fake.

Here's Chinese dealer "luckyxiefeiantique" back again with a fake double. Although he claims to be experienced and knowledgeable, he tells us that the specimen is from the Neolithic Period (umm.. dinosaurs lived 8,000 years ago?). So what is this sleaze ball offering? Something that doesn't exist in nature: a pair of white shelled Tarbosaur eggs.

More photos of fake white eggs offered by Mainland Chinese dealers. Many are "aged" by smearing a brown substance onto the "shell" to make them look old...

CONCRETIONS

The following auction photos are by Sam Martin (eBay ID "ishmaelite"), eBay's formerly prolific US seller of fake dinosaur eggs. He has sold hundreds of these worthless concretions that he falsely described as dinosaur eggs. Sadly, he sold every single one that he listed because eBayers did not take the time to educate themselves before bidding. Perhaps they were lulled into a false sense of security by the seller's splashy claims of authenticity, or perhaps they believed that the less than $20 price was worth the chance that they may be real.

While it is good news that negative feedbacks from buyers that he ripped off caused him to abandon his ebay thievery, he responded by merely selling his stock of thousands of concretions to another dealer ("outbackarky"). And now that dealer is offering them on eBay. So we can expect to see this junk around for years.

So how do we know that these are not eggs? Well, for starters, all of these concretions are hollow. No genuine egg is EVER hollow. Further, in some auctions Sam made the bogus claim that we are looking at egg yolk. However, egg yolk cannot fossilize because it is comprised almost entirely of water. And yolk cannot impart color to a fossil in any way. Thus, the claim of an egg yolk is another indicator of a fraudulent seller. Related to this, the matrix in which an egg is found is the same exact material that is inside the egg as well. Therefore, any variations in the color of the matrix inside the egg vs. the outside prove conclusively that they are not fossil eggs. But it does support the probability that it is a concretion.

We can then move on to the size and shape of the "eggs". In some auctions, the seller offers what he claims are "clutches" of multiple "eggs" of various sizes and shapes. Of course this is impossible, as all eggs from all species fall within a narrow range of sizes and shapes. Not so with Sam's concretions. The shapes range from peanut, to round, oblong, flat, multi-lobed, and everything in between. That is a feature of concretions, but not of dinosaur eggs.

There's more. In many auctions he mentioned the shell (a feature of many hollow concretions) of the "egg." In fact, if this were truly egg shell, then it would be entirely too thick for a miniscule dinosaur baby to break through. And it would be entirely too much calcite for the female’s oviduct to deposit around the yolk. Her body would be unable to contain all the calcium (stored in her bones) needed to lay even a small clutch of such “eggs”. Those two reasons are why all genuine eggs have thin shells.

For those with access to scholarly reference material we also learn that no whole eggs from the Lower Cretaceous have ever been found in Wyoming (the formation and place where he claimed that they were found). Only eggshell fragments and baby bones have been found in that region. (Source: page 18, "Eggs, Nests, and Baby Dinosaurs" by Carpenter).

Let us now look at a few of the many concretions that sleazy Sam has sold to his fellow Americans with false claims that they are dinosaur eggs:

And the dealer that Sam suckered into buying a huge lot of his concretions is using photos like the following for his eBay auctions.

In the next two photos, Shanghai dealer "volitation_shanghai" offered a concretion and not a fossil egg nest as he claimed. Surprisingly, this specimen is actually naturally occurring and is not a manufactured fake like most. But it is misrepresented as something that it is not. Indicators that these are not real eggs are: various egg sizes within the same "nest" (all should be almost identically sized), a peanut shaped egg which no animal living or dead ever laid, lack of eggshell, and a matrix type known to come from a formation rich in concretions .

Here are some more naturally occurring concretions which the seller claimed were dinosaur eggs.

GEODES

This auction for a "one of a kind rare hollow dinosaur egg fossil" is from another US seller "godly1" and comes from auction 6506077489 which was listed on 16-Jan-2005. Most school children will recognize this as the geode that it is. Amongst many reasons, it is impossible for it to be a dinosaur egg because the "shell" is too thick. How could a baby dinosaur smaller than the palm of your hand peck its way out of a shell 1/2 an inch thick? In actuality, the thickest shell on the largest fossil dino eggs (which are 16+ inches long) is only 1/8 inch thick.

This worthless geode by seller "equilon64" (auction #2245595654) was peddled as an "Unknown Dinosaur Fossilized egg". He even claimed that "We had a team of professor's and various geologist, archeologist, and a palentologist all agreed that this is in fact a fossilized dinosaur egg." Wait! An archeologist?? What would an archeologist who studies human remains know about a fossil dinosaur egg?? With bogus claims like this the seller NEVER lists the so-called experts by name and certainly does not provide contact information to verify the claims.

This "egg" by seller "sedonacollectables" (auction #2246302339) is another geode/concretion that was touted as an egg. He claimed that we were looking at an embryo as well. The most obvious indicator that it is fake is that the shell is more than an inch thick. In reality, if genuine, the shell would be just a little thicker than a chicken eggshell. Unfortunately, a new eBayer paid $450 for this egg.

The same seller ("sedonacollectables") also offered this "egg" which was supposedly from the same clutch as the above photo. All four "eggs" offered by this fraudulent seller on 22-May-2004 were low quality geodes.

YOLKS

The seller of this atrocity wants you to believe that you are looking at fossilized yolk. Yolks cannot fossilize because they are made of 97%+ water by volume. Water does not fossilize, nor do yolks stain the rock. Thus, a yolk leaves no trace whatsoever in a fossil egg. If the dealer claims that there is a yolk (or blood), you know he is a fraud.

Here's another seller claiming that you are looking at a fossilized yolk.

SIMPLY ABSURD

This next fake would be laughable if the seller didn't receive bids on it. It is from US seller "artguyz" and comes from auction 6517525932 which was listed on 8-March-2005. The lack of shell, its mineralized marbled composition, its color, texture, and the "bubbly" exterior precludes it from being an egg. There is no mention of location found, which is not surprising because it is not an egg -- as the seller would know if they took the time to open any reference book on the topic. All dealers have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that their description accurately describes what they are selling.

This next auction for a "fossilized egg" is from US seller "8800art" and comes from auction 3777098446 which was listed on 18-Jan-2005. There is no mention of location found, which is not surprising because it is not an egg. The lack of shell and the "spongy" and "bubbly" looking interior indicate that it is not a fossil egg. The seller has no expertise in fossil eggs and his 22 negative feedbacks should be a further indicator of a fraud.

Next up is a concretion from dishonest US dealer "niteminer" (with a low feedback number of only a "5") listed on 22-Jan-2005 in auction 6507249827. He claims that there is fossilized blood leaking from his "egg" -- which is absolutely impossible because blood does not remain red for more than a few hours after exposure to the air and blood cannot fossilize or impart color to a fossil. Further, he shows a photo of a "mummified duckbill head" in the same auction (shown here for comedy relief), which again is impossible since there is no such thing as a mummified dinosaur. (Although dinosaurs may indeed start out as mummies before they fossilize if they died in dry climates, mummification preserves tissue for at most 15,000 years, after which it turns to dust or enters the geological record as a fossil.) So we add fraudulent seller "niteminer" to our list of the dishonest for this following "egg":

This concretion was offered with an $8,000 "Buy it Now" price. Amazing.

This black rock is not a dinosaur egg. Note the poorly lit photo taken from too far away. Dishonest sellers employ poor photography to keep you guessing.

This one has the wrong coloring, texture, shape, and adhering bits of "matrix".

This is a water-smoothed stone. A US seller described it as a “very rare” egg.

While it is clear that these are not dinosaur eggs, the seller's poor photographs make it difficult to determine just what they truly are.

These next two photos are of water-smoothed rocks; nothing more. But the seller claims that they are dinosaur eggs from an "old collection".

This double "egg" is from auction #2244819317. Here we can see the brown paint that dripped from the eggs onto the fake matrix. The unvarying consistent color of the "shell", perfectly round shape, and paintbrush markings on the shell are the main points that prove that it is a bogus egg.

SOMEWHAT CONVINCING FAKES

This is where it gets trickier and you'll need the guidance of an experienced dealer. That is because this next fake (by dealer "antique-sky" in Auction 2264443375 started 20-Aug-2004) does a good job of superficially resembling a genuine egg. But the easiest indicators of a fake (aside from being offered by a Mainland Chinese dealer with poor feedback who also is offering other fake items) is that the matrix is not the kind where genuine eggs are found. Actually, this specimen comes from a formation in northern China that is known for its concretions . So you are looking at a naturally formed specimen, although it is not a fossil. Other indicators that it is not an egg is that upon closer inspection (impeded by his poor quality photos) we can see that there is no shell and the mineralization is wrong for a fossil but correct for a concretion. If you stay away from Mainland Chinese sellers, then you won't be taken in by even a better fake such as this.

The next photos are of a plaster reproduction of an Oviraptor "egg" from US dealer "you-finally-found-one-here" listed on 22-Jan-2005 in auction 6507312841. Indicators of a reproduction are: the seller has 14 negative feedbacks including ones for selling previous fake items, the two photos are too small to judge authenticity, the seller used a 'private auction' format so that the winner could not be notified by others who would warn him that the egg is a repro, the 'Buy it Now' price is 1/4 the market value for such a pristine museum-quality "egg", the seller has many other auctions for other fake antiquities, the seller offers no information on size, weight, or location found, and this exact egg has been offered on eBay by other sellers which indicates that the forgers sold large quantities of reproductions from the same mold. If it sounds too good to be true, then you know it is. Here were the only 2 photos supplied in the auction:

The next photo is a low quality reproduction from Chinese dealer "star-188" listed on 29-Jan-2005 in auction 6508611902. Since this item is being offered by a Mainland Chinese dealer, we should assume instantly that it is a fake -- and it is. The matrix is pink concrete, the "eggs" are too round with a non-egg texture, they have a weird salmon color, and in places there looks to be mud wiped on it to "age" it. And of course we are presented with the usual array of sleazy Chinese terms: no payment methods that protect the buyer are accepted, a $188 shipping fee, and an authenticity guarantee that does not include a refund for shipping costs.

This next "egg" is one of the better fakes that I have ever seen. But the too large shell pieces, artificial shell finish, perfect round shape, and unnatural matrix are indicators of a fake.

This next one was listed 29-September-2004 by Chinese dealer "zpxcc720" in auction #2273588604. This is the first fake that I have seen to have a semi-realistic multicolored shell, but the immediate give away is the concrete matrix and the wrong over all coloration:

#4. THE FOLLOWING SELLERS HAVE SOLD FAKE EGGS ON EBAY:

3mountainrock -- USA
549life -- USA
99mortmain -- China
100spuds -- United Kingdom
8800art -- USA
aamei888 -- China
allem1979 -- China
antique7-27 -- China
antique-sky -- China
bighart777 -- USA
bamboo-669 -- China
chinaartsall -- China
countrycurio268 -- China
creativevip -- China
dragon_kingdom369 -- China
east-art -- China
equilon64 -- USA
fancuriosshop -- China
fletcher553 -- USA
godly1 -- USA
gold-seaboard -- China
guolilimy -- China
jumpnfuncorporation -- USA
junkinjak1 -- USA
junqiao*antiques -- China
haihong013579 -- China
hongdecollection -- China
hongxian588 -- China
ishmaelite -- USA
kk*panda -- China
lacis777 -- Latvia
luckantique1818 -- China
luckyrubyantique -- China
luckyxiefeiantique -- China
market-0-distance -- China
minek2 -- China
mineralscn -- China
niteminer -- USA
ntjack-pro -- China
newsilkroad2008 -- USA
oldjadefountainhead -- China
opzcc268 -- China
orientdragon_antique -- China
outbackarky -- USA
raclen-antique-store -- China
rocksalez -- USA
saillarge2004 -- China
sakman252 -- USA
sedonacollectables -- USA
spookychicks -- USA
star-188 -- China
thejadetrade16 -- China
The main chance -- China
the_dragon_antiques -- China
tianboyiyuan -- China
topaz.mineral.expl -- USA
touzijuchang -- China
volitation_shanghai -- China
you-finally-found-one-here -- USA
zpxcc720 -- China

#5. THESE ARE REPUTABLE FOSSIL DEALERS WHO REGULARLY OFFER GENUINE EGGS ON EBAY:

eBay Seller ID (eBay Store Name) -- Country

anthonyjallen (Allen's Antiques) -- New Zealand
bibounouche (no eBay store) -- France
blunost (no eBay store) -- Italy
british-jurassic-fossils (British Jurassic Fossils) -- UK
early_american_auctions (no eBay store) -- USA
Fossilsarus (Fossilsarus) -- USA
hked (Artsourceasiacom Ltd) -- Hong Kong
imchait (IM Chait Auctions) -- USA
lowellcarhart (Eons Ago Company) -- USA

No payments were made by any of the above eBay dealers in order to be listed here. Nor do I claim that it is a complete list. Please let me know of any other reputable eBay dealers that I have overlooked and I will add them to the list after I authenticate their specimens.

#6. PHOTOGRAPHS OF GENUINE EGGS IN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS:

DENDROOLITHUS (HADROSAUR): Here are 20 photos from seven museums in China showing over 100 genuine Dendroolithus (Hadrosaur) eggs.

ELONGATOOLITHIDAE / ELONGATOOLITHUS (SMALL - OVIRAPTOR): Here are several photos from two Chinese museums showing this species. This egg type ranges in size from 5" to 7" and are associated with oviraptor.

ELONGATOOLITHIDAE / LONGITERESOOLITHUS (LARGE - TYRANNOSAURUS): Here are 12 photos from five Chinese museums showing more than 60 genuine eggs of this species. This egg type ranges in size from 14" to 18" and are assumed (but not yet proven) to be associated with Tyrannosaurus sp.

SPHEROOLITHUS / PARASPHEROOLITHUS (THERIZINOSAUR): This page shows 6 photos from three Chinese museums of more than 30 examples of this genus.

#7. SCIENTIFIC PAPERS ON DINOSAUR EGGS, EMBRYOS, REPRODUCTION, AND EVOLUTION

This page lists 90+ scholarly papers which you can download without cost.

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