Figure 1: Forged assembled Psittacosaurus scapulocoracoid based on genuine bone. Note the gap refilled by wax. The middle part of the shaft is slightly darker and the cracks are reddish, in contrast with the brownish cracks seen on other aspects of the specimen. The crack shown in the inset is also unnatural: it stops abruptly where the bone is completed by wax (specimen from private collection).

Figure 2: Forged assembled Psittacosaurus skull based on genuine bone, in anterior view. The original bone was sand-papered.

Figure 03:  CT-scan of assembled skull (A), femur (B) and sacrum (C) of Psittacosaurus. Most of the bone is real, but gaps between fragments were filled with wax that is not visible in the scan due to their low density. The core of the “skull” is comprised of a rectangular stone, with genuine bone fragments glued around it. CT-scanning was conducted at the Clinic Cedima, in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal.

Figure 4: Psittacosaurus skull under ultraviolet light. Different colours indicate different bone origins and filler materials.

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