Black Sahara - Erfoud - Morocco

[Tidgy's Dad]

Next up, some cephalopods, but it's 5 am here so i'd better get some sleep. 

Nos da! 

[TqB]

8 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Thanks, Tarquin. I'm pretty sure it's going to be Devonian, though I did find a suspected Lower Carboniferous fossil much closer to the hills. I'll do some reading, but Phillipsastrea is a possibility. 

This coral was not far away Possibly Crenulipora difformis, but that's not necessarily my final answer! 

 

 

It's nice and i can probably prep it a bit quite easily, the matrix seems pretty soft with just one or two hard bits.

 

 

 

 

 

Nice specimen! I don't know much about favositids but that looks like a reasonable ID - as usual, you'd probably need sections, including longitudinal, to be sure.

[Bobby Rico]

15 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

owever, i did find a very similar coral almost straight away :

Beautiful find wow 

[Wrangellian]

On 3/21/2019 at 12:14 PM, Tidgy's Dad said:

Erfoud is also rightly famous for its crinoid bed. Scyphocrintes elegans.

Again these are just lying about outside the shop.

The crinoid beds are located above the black Silurian "Orthocerid Marble" and have been dated to the late Pridoli to early Lochkovian, topmost Silurian to lowermost Devonian and is in several layers dating from about 423 to 410 million years old. Like the orthocerids, they are usually sold as Devonian. 

The Silurian strata is exposed as one approaches the hills but the crinoid beds are at the bottom of each limestone layer and those exposed at the surface have been stripped long ago. Now the locals dig vertical shafts down into the Silurian strata and when they find evidence of the crinoid beds tunnel horizontally beneath them then boshing them to remove the crinoids a bit at a time and then, sometimes, gluing the pieces back together to form the huge impressive plates like this one Yuness had outside his shop.

   

 

WOW 

Just laying around the shop, eh? And I paid how much for my piece that is like one minor puzzle piece in this completed jigsaw?  Hmmm...

Anyway, thanks for the info. I'm starting to edit some of my labels and I have a feeling there is more of that coming...

[Tidgy's Dad]

3 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

WOW 

Just laying around the shop, eh? And I paid how much for my piece that is like one minor puzzle piece in this completed jigsaw?  Hmmm...

Anyway, thanks for the info. I'm starting to edit some of my labels and I have a feeling there is more of that coming...

There were smaller pieces of single complete specimens in the shop and the prices were reasonable, much cheaper than online and considerably less expensisve than in the shops in Erfoud town as well. I didn't buy any though. 

[JarrodB]

Great thread. I'm really enjoying it. 

[nala]

Wow great report and wonderfull pictures!

[Tidgy's Dad]

3 hours ago, nala said:

Wow great report and wonderfull pictures!

Than you very much. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

5 hours ago, JarrodB said:

Great thread. I'm really enjoying it. 

I thank you, glad you like it. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

And now for some cephalopods, orthocones first : 

This one would have been pretty big, I think : 

 

@Manticocerasman

Goniatites coming soon.  

[Wrangellian]

8 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

There were smaller pieces of single complete specimens in the shop and the prices were reasonable, much cheaper than online and considerably less expensisve than in the shops in Erfoud town as well. I didn't buy any though. 

I guess we're paying mainly the shipping costs over here.

[Tidgy's Dad]

14 minutes ago, Wrangellian said:

I guess we're paying mainly the shipping costs over here.

Partially that, but I also think you're paying for at least one middleman, and it's harder to haggle. Also they will charge more if they think you have money, i always look destitute and tell them i am a brother who lives in the country. They tend to charge the Japanese the most, as they are very reluctant to haggle, so i'm told, and then the Americans and folks from the Gulf countries as they are assumed to have loads of money. Stereotyping. 

Top Tip : Always wear rubbish shoes. many dealers judge a person's wealth by looking at the shoes. And second is jewellery / watches. 

[siteseer]

6 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Partially that, but I also think you're paying for at least one middleman, and it's harder to haggle. Also they will charge more if they think you have money, i always look destitute and tell them i am a brother who lives in the country. They tend to charge the Japanese the most, as they are very reluctant to haggle, so i'm told, and then the Americans and folks from the Gulf countries as they are assumed to have loads of money. Stereotyping. 

Top Tip : Always wear rubbish shoes. many dealers judge a person's wealth by looking at the shoes. And second is jewellery / watches. 

 

Yeah, it's the middleman.  Shipping costs are lower when you go by cargo container, I'm told, and if a couple of dealers share one, even better.

 

There used to be a fossil collector/dealer in California who always wore an old hat with holes and work clothes.  He never bragged about what he had and you wouldn't have known about him unless a mutual friend introduced you to him.  The average person wouldn't have even noticed him and yet he could have bought just about anything he wanted at the Tucson shows.  He was a wily negotiator always pushing for a discount.  He would have been in his element in Morocco.

[Tidgy's Dad]

35 minutes ago, siteseer said:

 

Yeah, it's the middleman.  Shipping costs are lower when you go by cargo container, I'm told, and if a couple of dealers share one, even better.

 

There used to be a fossil collector/dealer in California who always wore an old hat with holes and work clothes.  He never bragged about what he had and you wouldn't have known about him unless a mutual friend introduced you to him.  The average person wouldn't have even noticed him and yet he could have bought just about anything he wanted at the Tucson shows.  He was a wily negotiator always pushing for a discount.  He would have been in his element in Morocco.

Nice story. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Some of the fossils found were from the plain, others were from wadis, shallow, dry river beds, but these had been active recently due to melting of some of the snow in the hills. It was in one of these, i found these couple of goniatites, possibly washed down from the hills, or just washed out of the matrix in the area i was. Again, i don't know for sure, but these black pyritized and haematite specimens are often found in Zlichovian strata here, that's early Emsian, middle part of the Lower Devonian, so 407.6 to 405 mya, but they can be found in other levels sometimes, so until i fin out the species, if i can, then it's just guesswork, i'm afraid. Still, I'll enjoy the research. 

 

 

[Wrangellian]

1 hour ago, siteseer said:

 

Yeah, it's the middleman.  Shipping costs are lower when you go by cargo container, I'm told, and if a couple of dealers share one, even better.

 

There used to be a fossil collector/dealer in California who always wore an old hat with holes and work clothes.  He never bragged about what he had and you wouldn't have known about him unless a mutual friend introduced you to him.  The average person wouldn't have even noticed him and yet he could have bought just about anything he wanted at the Tucson shows.  He was a wily negotiator always pushing for a discount.  He would have been in his element in Morocco.

This makes sense... I never wear anything particularly fancy anyway, but they can't see you when you buy online! I need to have more direct connections to the source, I guess.

[ynot]

Lots of nice finds here Adam.

 

[Manticocerasman]

11 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

 

@Manticocerasman

Goniatites coming soon.  

Thx Adam they look great  

I love those black goniatites 

[Tidgy's Dad]

8 hours ago, ynot said:

Lots of nice finds here Adam.

 

Thank you! 

Still plenty to come.

[Tidgy's Dad]

1 hour ago, Manticocerasman said:

Thx Adam they look great  

I love those black goniatites 

Me too! 

Here's another one, just for you! 

This one is 1.3 mm across at its widest.

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

The next three species were all found quite close together, much nearer to the hill. 

if I'm right with their provisional ids, and I may well not be, they could be from the same beds, the Pragian limestones, 411.2 to 407.6 mya, the lower part of the Lower Devonian. 

First up, some brachiopods! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Desquamatia ? Atrypa?  @Peat Burns

The brachial valves are all matrix covered, so i need to do some prepping to help with the identification.

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Then a trilo, a bit worn and weathered, but always nice to find a roller. 

Reedops? The eyes are broken and a lot of detail removed. It could have rolled down from anywhere, so unsure of the age, really.

[Jackson g]

Amazing! Hunting in Morroco must be a real treat, at least it would be for me. Heck just seeing what some of the sellers have on online videos is pretty amazing. You've provided me a great distraction at work now.

Looking forward to more!

[Malcolmt]

Epic post ... can hardly wait for the next installment......

[Tidgy's Dad]

1 hour ago, Jackson g said:

Amazing! Hunting in Morroco must be a real treat, at least it would be for me. Heck just seeing what some of the sellers have on online videos is pretty amazing. You've provided me a great distraction at work now.

Looking forward to more!

Thank you!

Hopefully you'll get the chance to visit this beautiful and often fossiliferous country one day. 

Lots more coming up!

1 hour ago, Malcolmt said:

Epic post ... can hardly wait for the next installment......

Thank you! 

Next installment in just a tick............