Fossils

Orthoceras And Other Fossils

These are orthoceras fossils from Morocco. The fossils are carefully exposed and polished to show their detail and beauty. The matrix rock around them has a matt finish to frame the fossils.

Orthoceras Fossils

Pieces of stone containing orthoceras fossils from Morocco have been polished to form sculptures. The fossils are polished to show their form and beauty. The stone around them is finished in a mottled unpolished way.

Orthoceras are fossils of a now extinct marine animal. Molluscs and members of the cephalopod family, orthoceras are relatives of squid, octopus and most closely related to the chambered nautilus which has remained virtually unchanged for about 400 million years. Orthoceras are straight shelled, unlike the nautilus which is in a spiral, and were common around 350 million years ago in the Devonian period. Orthoceras moved using a form of jet propulsion by squirting water from their bodies.

Preserved as fossils, orthoceras occur in large numbers especially in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The orthoceras fossils that we sell have been polished and made into free standing sculptures each of which contains several orthoceras. The rock around the fossils is left with a textured finish to accentuate each fossil and the base is sawn flat so that the sculptures can be stood upright. The sculptures are from about 15cm (6 inches) up to 45cm (18 inches) high.

We also have fossilised shark teeth.