great-britton-fossils Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Hello! This is my first time posting, and found this in my collection the other day. Anyone have an idea? Thanks for the help! Britton Link to post Share on other sites
ClearLake Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Welcome to the forum. It looks like you have a straight (orthoconic) nautiloid. Any idea where it came from or what age it is? 2 Link to post Share on other sites
ThePhysicist Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Welcome to the forum from Texas! This is an Orthoceras, likely from Morocco based on the preservation. Link to post Share on other sites
great-britton-fossils Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 10 hours ago, ThePhysicist said: Welcome to the forum from Texas! This is an Orthoceras, likely from Morocco based on the preservation. Yep, from Morrocco and that's all I knew. Thanks so much! Link to post Share on other sites
great-britton-fossils Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 10 hours ago, ClearLake said: Welcome to the forum. It looks like you have a straight (orthoconic) nautiloid. Any idea where it came from or what age it is? From Morocco. Link to post Share on other sites
Kane Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 More likely Geisonoceras, as I believe Orthoceras is restricted to its type specimen in the Baltic region ( @Tidgy's Dad knows more about them than I do). 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Thecosmilia Trichitoma Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 It’s interesting to see a specimen that isn’t polished from that area. From what I know, it is most likely from the Atlas Mountains there. Link to post Share on other sites
Tidgy's Dad Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Most of these come from the south of Morocco in the Anti Atlas region, many from Erfoud and the surrounding areas. They are chiefly Early to Middle Devonian in age , though there are some Late Silurian and Late Devonian ones that look like this. Kane is right in saying that the genus Orthoceras is now restricted to the type species O. regularis from the Middle Ordovician of the Balto-Scandinavian region. Many are from the family Geisonoceratidae, but not all are even orthocerids, orthoconic Pseudorthocerida and Actinocerida are also common. You need to be an expert and / or have a precise location to get to genus level in your ids. Your specimen has dips in the centre of the chamber between the septa that may help reduce the number of candidates. 3 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now