The Triassic world-wide: China
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Most of the territory of what is today the People's Republic of China was covered by a mostly shallow sea during the Triassic. The fauna of its eastern margin is similar to what can be found in other areas of the Tethys ocean, e. g. nothosaurs and ichthyosaurs. Famous chinese fossils are small nothosaurs of the genus Kueichousaurus that are quite abundant in the Guizhou province (see annotation).
Nothosaur

Kueichousaurus hui

Middle Triassic, Guanglin (Prov. Guizhou, PRC)

(Scale: 2 cm)
Scale length, if not otherwise stated: 1 cm.
Annotation: Kueichousaur specimens are abundantly offered at online fossil shops and internet auction platforms, often for astonishingly low prices. These specimens are - with a few exceptions - mostly of low quality and small size with inappropriate preparation that was already done in the country of origin. Details like the small finger and skull bones have been damaged. It's also quite common to "complete" incomplete specimens with fragments of various individuals. Also missing parts often just have been replaced by casts. Complete falsifications are also not too rare, they are mainly made of plastic casts of complete skeletons that are glued on a natural matrix and then are finally covered with grinded rock. Such items are usually offered as "unprepped". And please mind the probably high customs fees and local taxes that might apply when buying from a seller in a foreign county.

If you want to buy a Kueichousaur, better consult a trustworthy (local) fossil dealer. He will offer you the opportunity for a close examination before you decide whether to buy or not. Often the slabs went broken while they were dug out and had to be glued (that's the case with my specimen too), so a glued slab is not necessarily an evidence for a falsification. You have to rely on the seller's word, and better decide for yourself if heavy differences in colour of the single slab fragments, bones that don't really fit together where glued, or anatomical discrepancies, e. g. a very long/short neck or tail, might be an evidence that the specimen has been "completed". The price is also an indication: You have to pay for quality! Kueichousaur skeletons are available for as low as 75 US-$, what raises the question if the price is intended to tranquilize the potential buyer's mind. On the other hand, prices of more than 1500 US-$ are pure fiction, even for large and professionally prepared specimens. But you can easily spend some several hundred US-$ for a good, complete and non-manipulated specimen.

I spent some time on studying the various techniques fossil fakers usually use. If you think you own a faked specimen and want to know more about it, please contact me!

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