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9 hours ago, Malcolmt said:

I continue to be in Awe

 

Awww.

Thank you. :)

 

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Oh, gentle viewer, I shall leave you to make up your own minds................

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Have fun.

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Adam thank so much I spent a lot of enjoyable time this morning reading this thread. I feel I got to understand and appreciate greatly the fossils that Morocco bring to the world market . I also was really amazed at the different products they can make out of stone. The fossil marble coke bottle was cool and my favourite . I am also astonish by the different  colour hues in the Crinoid slabs. Thank you for taking me window shopping . All the best Bobby 

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1 hour ago, Bobby Rico said:

Adam thank so much I spent a lot of enjoyable time this morning reading this thread. I feel I got to understand and appreciate greatly the fossils that Morocco bring to the world market . I also was really amazed at the different products they can make out of stone. The fossil marble coke bottle was cool and my favourite . I am also astonish by the different  colour hues in the Crinoid slabs. Thank you for taking me window shopping . All the best Bobby 

Thank you, Bobby, my friend. :)

I know you've been watching these threads, i'm very grateful. 

But did you see this one?

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/93362-merzouga-sahara-morocco/

Cheers,

Adam. :fistbump:

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I should have posted earlier some examples of the common little and cheap fossils from Erfoud. 

Here is the usual black orthoconic nautiloid (this one from my collection, given as a gift.)

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Notice the orientation, probably due to current. This is not Orthoceras as generally claimed, as that genus is restricted to the Baltic area. 

It is also not Devonian, as is mostly said, as the stratigraphy and conodont zone studies clearly show this as middle Ludfordian, therefore from the top of the Ludlow, Upper Silurian in age. And thus never any goniatites. 

It is also often listed as Geisonoceras by those who've moved on, but probably isn't, the geisonoceratidae family are dominant, but not unique here, and it is more likely another of the family such as Arionoceras or Harpisoceras, but other straight shelled nautiloids also occur. 

The following orthocerid is from the Erfoud area and can be found alongside orthoconic nautiloids. 

It is Devonian, there are several levels, but this maybe Famennian, by the look of it and the species here seem not to have been properly described. (or at least i can't find it!) 

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Here is the reverse showing evidence of small goniatites or clymenids. 

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This is one of the extremely common, but probably unidentifiable little goniatites you see for sale everywhere, all over the world and on line. Probably Upper Devonian, but other similarly coloured beds do occur in the Middle Devonian as well.

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Hey Adam, I think it's fair to say that everyone has throughly enjoyed reading your adventure, thank you for posting your trip in such detail. Did you manage to come across any dinosaur material?

 

Thanks :)

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11 minutes ago, Dinoguy89 said:

Hey Adam, I think it's fair to say that everyone has throughly enjoyed reading your adventure, thank you for posting your trip in such detail. Did you manage to come across any dinosaur material?

 

Thanks :)

Very kind of you, old chap. :)

I don't think I saw very much dinosaur material at all, where i went on this trip. Not sure, wasn't really paying attention, i'm not a dino bit collector myself. 

The Kem Kem region is holding onto its stuff more, I understand .

I have one bad pic of a vertebra i once bought as the guy thought it was a fish vert, showed me pics of ichthyosaurs  to prove his point, realized he was wrong and sold it to me for a few dollars. 

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On 4/1/2019 at 8:46 PM, Tidgy's Dad said:

Very kind of you, old chap. :)

I don't think I saw very much dinosaur material at all, where i went on this trip. Not sure, wasn't really paying attention, i'm not a dino bit collector myself. 

The Kem Kem region is holding onto its stuff more, I understand .

I have one bad pic of a vertebra i once bought as the guy thought it was a fish vert, showed me pics of ichthyosaurs  to prove his point, realized he was wrong and sold it to me for a few dollars. 

Dinosaur.thumb.jpg.2d214692e8a892979f39ff771074cd4f.jpg 

 

Sounds like you got yourself a great deal there and I guess it doesn't matter, the place is so rich in fossils. I've throughly enjoyed experiencing it with you, looks like you had a great time :)

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14 minutes ago, Dinoguy89 said:

Sounds like you got yourself a great deal there and I guess it doesn't matter, the place is so rich in fossils. I've throughly enjoyed experiencing it with you, looks like you had a great time :)

Keep watching, i hope to be visiting the Kem Kem with my friend later this year.............

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Sometimes it gets very difficult to tell what's real, what's composited, what's added to and whats completely fake.

I think these specimens are real.

What do you think?

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But not so sure about the crinoids on the upper shelf.........?

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What are the prices like, generally (and after any necessary haggling), compared to the sorts of prices you'd pay online for the same stuff?

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5 hours ago, Aurelius said:

What are the prices like, generally (and after any necessary haggling), compared to the sorts of prices you'd pay online for the same stuff?

Interesting question - indeed...:popcorn:

 

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10 hours ago, ynot said:

I would have a hard time NOT spending all of my money on some of those pieces, others not so much.

Thanks, Tony! :)

Top Tip : Do NOT spend all your money in these places. Even if you're the world's expert haggler, the stuff that isn't local is incredibly high priced, so, unless you really fall in love with a particular piece, you're better off buying in shops nearer the locality of the item. You're paying the finder, middle men, transport costs and a huge mark up in these stores. Local stuff is still very expensive as again they're paying the finders and traders and really add a huge amount for prepping and profit. (to be fair, some of the prepping is excellent and does take a very long time, but if you're happy to prep yourself, you're better off buying raw pieces from shops on the edge of town like I did and the prepping yourself. 10% of the cost here.) Also, a lot of the stuff here is composited, faked or over-prepped and the little local collectors shops offer mostly genuine pieces. 

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10 hours ago, Aurelius said:

What are the prices like, generally (and after any necessary haggling), compared to the sorts of prices you'd pay online for the same stuff?

Hmmmm. 

Not entirely sure as I've never bought a fossil online, but I have looked at prices occasionally. I'd say that the marked prices are comparable or even more than some pieces online, but, online prices vary massively, it seems to me, and after haggling, you can get items here a fair bit less than the average online price, but still much more than you'd pay a local collector / dealer. (see answer above) .  

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4 hours ago, TqB said:

Fabulous thread, Adam! Did you see any conulariids? :)

Thanks, Tarquin! :)

No, no conulariids. :(

The trouble is with these places is they only sell what sells! The place is full of trilobites, cephalopods, crinoids, starfish and brittle stars and some bits of vertebrate material from the phosphate mines at Khouribga. 

It's rather disappointing in some respects for the collector of more unusual invertebrates like you and I, as you won't see any corals, bryozoans, sponges and so on. The shop had one small box of rhynchonellid brachiopods from a region not far away but I already had this species. :(

Again, check out the little edge of town places who actually collect the fossils, they often have piles of local material that the big shops don't want and you can pick up these very cheaply indeed. But I don't think I've ever seen a conulariid. I'd buy it if i found one as I don't have any in my collection at all! 

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26 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Thanks, Tarquin! :)

No, no conulariids. :(

The trouble is with these places is they only sell what sells! The place is full of trilobites, cephalopods, crinoids, starfish and brittle stars and some bits of vertebrate material from the phosphate mines at Khouribga. 

It's rather disappointing in some respects for the collector of more unusual invertebrates like you and I, as you won't see any corals, bryozoans, sponges and so on. The shop had one small box of rhynchonellid brachiopods from a region not far away but I already had this species. :(

Again, check out the little edge of town places who actually collect the fossils, they often have piles of local material that the big shops don't want and you can pick up these very cheaply indeed. But I don't think I've ever seen a conulariid. I'd buy it if i found one as I don't have any in my collection at all! 

Interesting, thanks Adam. I've bought four large Moroccan ones - three the same, which I'm sure are Ordovician, and a possible Devonian one. All sold as Devonian! Coming to a thread soon, honest...

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22 minutes ago, TqB said:

Interesting, thanks Adam. I've bought four large Moroccan ones - three the same, which I'm sure are Ordovician, and a possible Devonian one. All sold as Devonian! Coming to a thread soon, honest...

Look forward to seeing them. 

The different areas are largely doing their own marketing and sales now, so you don't see much stuff from Kem Kem in Erfoud like you used to.

Or pieces from the Ordovician Fezouata, pyritized ammonites from the Atlas mountains, heteromorphs from the Agadir area etc. 

Yes, everything is Devonian, except ammonites which are Cretaceous and 'stromatolites' which are Precambrian! :D 

 

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On 3/31/2019 at 10:07 PM, Tidgy's Dad said:

Plates :

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Never seen anyone using these! 

I would feel like a king dining off of one of these! :notworthy:

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16 hours ago, Bobby Rico said:

Adam thank so much I spent a lot of enjoyable time this morning reading this thread. I feel I got to understand and appreciate greatly the fossils that Morocco bring to the world market . I also was really amazed at the different products they can make out of stone. The fossil marble coke bottle was cool and my favourite . I am also astonish by the different  colour hues in the Crinoid slabs. Thank you for taking me window shopping . All the best Bobby 

I 100% agree with everything stated. Your threads are a treat to read, thank you very much!

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A great treat to read! Thank you for sharing and hope you are enjoying the trip to the fossiliferous Morocco! :)

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On 4/1/2019 at 9:33 PM, Tidgy's Dad said:

Sometimes it gets very difficult to tell what's real, what's composited, what's added to and whats completely fake.

I think these specimens are real.

What do you think?

66.thumb.jpg.c89821edf9aac62f64cd1bc91e6bf5ad.jpg

But not so sure about the crinoids on the upper shelf.........?

67.thumb.jpg.24d7dfd23c27b631a2317bd8a3df38cf.jpg

I want to say the way the trilobites are more piled on each other makes it look more authentic. Are they known to cluster like that in these formations? Pretty amazing if they can indeed be found in such insane death assemblages.........

 

Really amazing trip! My sister went to Morocco when she lived abroad in Spain and told me about the insane amount of fossils everywhere...I kinda get it now :) 

 

thanks for posting this! Really great look into the Moroccan fossil commerce. 

 

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On 4/2/2019 at 4:17 PM, Jackson g said:

I would feel like a king dining off of one of these! :notworthy:

Or alternatively, they make very good frisbees. :D

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On 4/2/2019 at 4:34 PM, thebluecatapilla said:

A great treat to read! Thank you for sharing and hope you are enjoying the trip to the fossiliferous Morocco! :)

Thank you very much. I've lived in Morocco for 14 years and yes, I enjoy it a great deal. :)

On 4/2/2019 at 4:29 PM, Jackson g said:

I 100% agree with everything stated. Your threads are a treat to read, thank you very much!

Very kind of you to say so. 

Thank you. :)

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