![]() If fakes do infiltrate the market, the question is whether buyers will eventually become conscious enough to avoid them. In a statement on the Oxford website, Vollrath said, “We leave it to others to develop this technology further with the aim to confuse the trade, depress prices and thus support rhino conservation.” Questions over effectiveness The composition and the method of preparation should be the same for Indian and African rhinos, co-lead author Fritz Vollrath, professor of zoology at Oxford, told The Indian Express in reply to a question. The composite they created is easily moulded into a “rhino horn copy” with a microstructure that, when cut and polished, is remarkably similar to that of the real horn, they said. In order to confuse the market, the authors stressed, plausible copies should be simple to produce while being similar. These sample structures, they have reported, were similar to real rhino horn in look, feel and properties, as shown by analytical studies. The scientists relied on the horse, which is the rhino’s near relative, bundled together its tail hairs and glued them together with a matrix of regenerated silk. Unlike the horn of a cow, at the core of which is live bone, the rhino’s horn is actually a tuft of hair that grows, tightly packed, and glued together on the nose by a mass of cells and fluid. They have suggested that the method will provide a blueprint to create “credible fakes” that could eventually flood the rhino horn market. Scientists from the University of Oxford and Fudan University, Shanghai, have described their method in a paper published on Friday in the journal Scientific Reports. ![]() The proposal has been met with incredulity by rhino conservation experts in India. They have described a method for creating fake “rhino horns” using horse hair, and suggested that if the market could be flooded with these, then the demand for real rhino horns would go down. ![]() Now, researchers have proposed a solution - fake horns. In Chinese traditional medicine, the rhino horn is believed to have medicinal and other health benefits, including working as an aphrodisiac - an idea that remains a threat to rhino populations. THE MAIN reason why rhinos of all species are poached, including the one-horned Indian rhinoceros found mostly in Assam, is that there is a market for its horn. Maybe this is indeed a true fossil rhino horn and I am just over-paranoid.Unlike the horn of a cow, at the core of which is live bone, the rhino’s horn is actually a tuft of hair that grows, tightly packed, and glued together on the nose by a mass of cells and fluid. Perhaps most of the honeycomb surface pattern was destroyed by carving?Īnyway, I could be totally wrong. Traces of this pattern can be seen exposed by acetone. There is a honeycomb pattern which you can see on the base. So, what is this "horn" exactly? My guess right now is that it is an actual bone (judging from the base) that was carved into the shape of a horn. What leads me to the conclusion that this is a real bone and not wood is the cross section. I am 95% sure this is not wood however as there are no wood grains and the weight is more consistent with bone I rubbed it with acetone and revealed a different color underneath. My friend mentioned this is a river find, hence the dark coloration. While there are indeed lines that flow from the base to the tip, I can't tell if they are carved or not My friend tells me it is permineralized keratin but I am not sure if I agree with that. Also, this fossil here is almost surely a bone. Rhino horns as I understand, are made of keratin which means they do not fossilize easily. He told me it comes from a reliable digger from Sangiran and it is a rhino horn. Hi all, I was recently gifted a lovely fossil from a friend.
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