Eye surgeon saw right away that fossil with the big jaw was special

HINGHAM — As an amateur paleontologist, Dr. Henry Kriegstein has seen “lots of amazing things” at the Tucson gem, mineral and fossil show. Six years ago, however, he knew immediately that the slab of rock with part of the skull of a dinosaur clearly visible was something special.

“I could tell right away that the dinosaur was carnivorous,” he said. The fossil had a large jaw, similar to Tyrannosaurus rex.

The fossil was encased in a 150-pound piece of sedimentary rock made of compressed mud and silt. The slab measured 3-feet by 3-feet and was 18 inches thick. Kriegstein, an eye surgeon who lives in Hingham, bought it for “less than $100,000” from a private dealer who said he had bought it in Japan.

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