Planodave Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Hello all, I love reading the posts here and the knowledge base is amazing. Question, I came across these two specimens today and they seem really long "tall" and too perfectly straight to be real. They must be at least 4 foot tall. I have enclosed pictures and a close-up of a small section that is broken. Thank you all for the help. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.C. Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 In my opinion this is a sculpted “orthoceras” made from the polished matrix and likely contains some real specimens within it. Probably just some trickery done to make this a more attractive specimen and command a higher price. Typically all the Moroccan polished orthoceras will have white outlines with chambers easily visible which I am not seeing here. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planodave Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 Thank you for your input. Something just does not look quite right.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 I agree ... my initial reaction was what a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 I agree wholeheartedly with the above comments. However, I could also mention that paleozoic straight nautiloids such as Endoceras could reach a length of up to 30 ft. 4 1 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 nicely done, longest one I have seen was more than 220 cm, incredible work... The morocceans are often great artists I do not know the maximum size of a not composited one, think it ends at approx. 1 Meter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 I use to sell lots of these back in the 1990's. Heck, I think I've still got one of these somewhere. These are made up of pieces of the real thing but of many different animals, then all are ground/carved to make them appear to be all the same critter and then polished, then the 'matrix' carved to hide all the 'jointery'. RB 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Fantastic artwork and trickery meant to entrap the uninformed and unwary and separate them from their funds. Reminds me of those composited megalodon teeth the size of dinner plates. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phos_01 Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 They look like Skies , my first thought as others suggested stay away , wait for a beter piece Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 I don't think that these are real, they're composites, as has been mentioned, but there are huge ones about in Morocco. Fig. 10. Approximate reconstruction of orthocones and size comparison. Note that ‘real’ animals differed in having constricted body chambers and also the adapical end was not as sharply pointed as illustrated here. A, Orthoceratoidea indet., late Ludfordian, Jebel Ouaoufilal. Note the big apical angle. B, PIMUZ 32183 – Temperoceras sp., late Lochkovian, Jebel Ouaoufilal. C, Deiroceras hollardi, early Emsian, Gara Mdouara. D, PIMUZ 31922 – D. hollardi, early Emsian, Gara Mdouara. E, PIMUZ 31502 – D. hollardi, early Emsian, Jebel Ouaoufilal. F, gen. et sp. indet., early Eifelian, Jebel Ouaoufilal. Note the very small adapical angle. G, hypothetical ‘average’ specimen. Finding big chunks is common enough, but the 'complete' specimens are usually fractured in many places and break up when cutting free the matrix. Chunk I found. Probably Deiroceras hollardi. 3 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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