Why does Morocco harbour such a diverse range of fossils?

[dylandreiling]

I'm sure there's a very simple answer to this, but I'm honestly astonished by the range and quality of fossils that come out of Morocco. I was browsing around this morning for fun looking at some of the general fossils for sale online, it seems like half of them come from there! Large therapods such as Spinosaurus, or crazy trilobites like Dicranurus. What is up with the crazy fossil diversity in that country? 

[Plax]

lack of vegetation, Phosphate mines. blessed with diverse sedimentary geology.

[Fossildude19]

A number of different time periods exposed at the surface.

 

 

[doushantuo]

McGowan/dyke,Geology,2009)

The application of common techniques for standardizing ecological survey data confirms that previous workers have been misled by the acquisition by museums of specimens from commercial collectors rather than from detailed field surveying. Claims that an unusual number of theropod dinosaurs were present in North Africa Late Cretaceous ecosystems are likely the result of biases due to both commercial activity and collectorship biases.

[doushantuo]

Dylandreiling,do you mean to say that you feel that,compared with areas with a similar geological history and area of outcropping fossiliferous strata,Morocco has more morphologically disparate fossils,or that a greater amount of clades/taxa are present?

Would you take microfossils into account?

[doushantuo]

Palaeoecology_Different_Dinosaur_Ecologies_in_Deep.pdf

 

 

[dylandreiling]

3 hours ago, doushantuo said:

Dylandreiling,do you mean to say that you feel that,compared with areas with a similar geological history and area of outcropping fossiliferous strata,Morocco has more morphologically disparate fossils,or that a greater amount of clades/taxa are present?

Would you take microfossils into account?

 

It seems to me that Morocco has an unusual abundance and diversity of fossiliferous sediments. Not only a diverse range of species, but in regards to timescale as well. I don't know of many countries which harbour such a rich abundance of incredible specimens. 

[doushantuo]

That's just my point:"rich","abundance","unusual",and "incredible specimens" are subjective terms,or at least amenable to interpretation.

A point can be made that ,e.g.,China is more "diverse" and "abundant".

 

I understand what you are saying ,though.

And are you pretty familiar with the fossil record of other countries?

Edit:answering your question is NOT easy,BTW

 

[dylandreiling]

12 minutes ago, doushantuo said:

That's just my point:"rich","abundance","unusual",and "incredible specimens" are subjective terms,or at least amenable to interpretation.

A point can be made that ,e.g.,China is more "diverse" and "abundant".

 

I understand what you are saying ,though.

And are you pretty familiar with the fossil record of other countries?

Edit:answering your question is NOT easy,BTW

 

 

I see what you're saying now. Compared to many of the forum members here, I know very little. But I am relatively familiar with the general fossil record of most countries. I suppose the question arose when I was doing research on the trilobite specimens which have turned up in Morocco. And the fact that a seemingly large portion of the fossil market originates in Morocco. 

[doushantuo]

which ones,the phacopids?

[dylandreiling]

9 minutes ago, doushantuo said:

which ones,the phacopids?

 

Yes, actually, this does bring up an interesting question, I wonder which country holds the most impressive fossil record? Impressive in terms of diversity, uniqueness of specimens, and preservation. 

[Kane]

57 minutes ago, dylandreiling said:

 

It seems to me that Morocco has an unusual abundance and diversity of fossiliferous sediments. Not only a diverse range of species, but in regards to timescale as well. I don't know of many countries which harbour such a rich abundance of incredible specimens. 

Sometimes, Dylan, there is no place like home.  

 

Being the second largest country in the world by landmass, we have an incredible fossil record: from among the oldest fossil traces of life on earth; up through a delightful and abundant Paleozoic selection from parts of Quebec through Ontario and Manitoba; the Mesozoic wonders out in the prairies; and a real mix of old and new out in BC (such as the legendary Burgess shales with some of those phenomenally preserved soft-bodied critters that inspire so much wonder!). And if one travels up north beyond the vast shield and its mineral resources, there is even more of a mix to be found. There are even pockets here and there throughout Canada that have produced some spectacular Cenozoic specimens. 

[doushantuo]

Country???

So,if Morocco annexes Mauretania,the diversity drops?

BTW,you're falling into the same trap again: that question is moot,and/or unanswerable.

There is no (universal)metric for diversity,and we don't really understand it.

Is there are a linear correlation with collecting efforts,should we normalize to size?

Are you thinking about Phanerozoic macrofossils only?

Should we normalize to area?

I mean ,strong cases can be made for Greenland,China,Germany...

At what taxonomic level should we assess the diversity?

Should we include parataxonomical objects/form genera?

Edit:and let's not forget Canada,As Kane(above) rightly points out:Miguasha,Alberta

Burgess?never heard of...

 

 

[dylandreiling]

13 minutes ago, doushantuo said:

Country???

So,if Morocco annexes Mauretania,the diversity drops?

BTW,you're falling into the same trap again: that question is moot,and/or unanswerable.

There is no (universal)metric for diversity,and we don't really understand it.

Is there are a linear correlation with collecting efforts,should we normalize to size?

Are you thinking about Phanerozoic macrofossils only?

Should we normalize to area?

I mean ,strong cases can be made for Greenland,China,Germany...

At what taxonomic level should we assess the diversity?

Should we include parataxonomical objects/form genera?

Edit:and let's not forget Canada,As Kane(above) rightly points out:Miguasha,Alberta

Burgess?never heard of...

 

 

 

 

LOL! Very true. Alas, the musings of Dylan on a Tuesday morning. 

 

@Kane being an American myself, I'm torn between two loves  

[Kane]

1 minute ago, dylandreiling said:

 

 

LOL! Very true. Alas, the musings of Dylan on a Tuesday morning. 

 

@Kane being an American myself, I'm torn between two loves  

Well, if you blur the border, you get to add both the US and Canada into your paleontological wonder!  No ocean hopping required!

[taj]

1 hour ago, Kane said:

Sometimes, Dylan, there is no place like home.  

 

Being the second largest country in the world by landmass, we have an incredible fossil record: from among the oldest fossil traces of life on earth; up through a delightful and abundant Paleozoic selection from parts of Quebec through Ontario and Manitoba; the Mesozoic wonders out in the prairies; and a real mix of old and new out in BC (such as the legendary Burgess shales with some of those phenomenally preserved soft-bodied critters that inspire so much wonder!). And if one travels up north beyond the vast shield and its mineral resources, there is even more of a mix to be found. There are even pockets here and there throughout Canada that have produced some spectacular Cenozoic specimens. 

we have an incredible fossil record:

 

Yes , but the distances , the distances !!!!

[Kane]

2 minutes ago, taj said:

we have an incredible fossil record:

 

Yes , but the distances , the distances !!!!

True - a North American thing. But along with the distances we have the very wide open views!  

[jnoun11]

the answer is simple , locals people digg and watch everithing, much better efficient than a official paleontologist in term of staying every days on a same locality, night watching for meteorites , everybody is involved, lot of strata exposed without vegetations...money is not " noble" but it s a very efficient tool applied to paleontology. without this army of collectors , it s will be less scientifics publications about morroco...

first a local people find something. sold it to a foreigner, the foreigner show the specimen to someone , someone want to studie it so ask for more, more people digging on the site develloping a local economic activity .

more an less everywhere in a world you have billions of fossils, but local laws, private lands, less people watching the field dayli , excepting the fossils forum people ,vegetations regulation, national park ect ect...

 

[taj]

Hey Jnoun, by the way , what about the new fossil laws brewing in Morocco ? Do you have some insight?

[zekky]

Mountains, lacks of vegetation, and good erosion. 

[jpc]

Other countries have great fossil records... France, Germany, UK, and many US states such as my own Wyoming.  The reason that morocco is apparently richer is gecause the country stongly supports fossil selling.  See jnoun's post.  But watch out for somthing in the wind, as taj mentioned above.

[doushantuo]

As I've said before,"richer"(in this context) has no metric.

Morocco is well aware of the economics of the fossil trade,as pointed out above.

How much of the national income derives from the fossil trade,I have no idea.

Are we really saying that Moroccan fossils are a significant part of the paleontological buying and selling market?*

Is that just vertebrate macrofossils?

Do scientific or popular publications enhance marketability of paleontological material and thus,trade?

*Compared to nations with similar population density,gross national income,scientific and economic policies,amount of tourism,extent of exposure of strata,accesibility

infrastructure,etc?

In some some areas of the world,collecting has been hindered by geopolitics.

 

Might there be a linear correlation between geomorphology,vegetal cover,climate,hydrology,weathering ,as stated above? 

"Mountains" have beens mentioned.

Is there a link between (the evolution of )hypsometry and taxonomical diversity,past or present?

 

Has Plio-Quaternary transtensional tectonics uplifted/exposed the more fossilferous strata?

Does the colonial past play a part?

Did fossil collecting in Morocco start earlier than in the rest of the world?