Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, January 2024

[Splonkadumpocus]

So I just went to Tucson's annual gem, mineral and fossil showcase and got some good fossil photos; here's what they had this year.

Part 1

Part 2

[Newt]

Wow, there's some really cool stuff there! Did you take anything home with you?

[Splonkadumpocus]

I didn't get any fossils, but the Black Hills Institute did have some otherwise hard-to-find figures available and I came away with a Safari Qianzhousaurus and a Papo cave bear.

[Reuben03]

that mosasaur is beautiful. Id love to know how old it is and to get a species ID

[Splonkadumpocus]

I don't know the species, but I believe it's from the Maastrichtian of Morocco.

[Halichoeres]

I grew up in Tucson, and it never occurred to me that not every town has such a spectacular showcase for fossils. One of the very few things I miss about living there.

[bmathison1972]

I met Robert Bakker at the Tucson Gem and Mineral show in the early 2000s 
He was sketching fossils that were sold by/for private dealers...uggh. I remember him telling me that a lot of the 'good stuff' is in private hands and not museums accessible to researchers like himself.

[Halichoeres]

I met Robert Bakker at the Tucson Gem and Mineral show in the early 2000s 
He was sketching fossils that were sold by/for private dealers...uggh. I remember him telling me that a lot of the 'good stuff' is in private hands and not museums accessible to researchers like himself.

Yeah, it's shocking what gets sold to private collectors.

[DinoToyForum]

Thanks for sharing @Splonkadumpocus, some interesting plesiosaur specimens this year! Was there any information about their provenance that you may have noted, especially the two complete skeletons?

[thomasw100]

I met Robert Bakker at the Tucson Gem and Mineral show in the early 2000s 
He was sketching fossils that were sold by/for private dealers...uggh. I remember him telling me that a lot of the 'good stuff' is in private hands and not museums accessible to researchers like himself.

Yeah, it's shocking what gets sold to private collectors.

What is truly shocking is that governments have no money to spend any more on science and museums. They have to spend it on funding wars and the weapons industry.