Fossil Shops - Erfoud - Morocco

[Plantguy]

On 4/3/2019 at 5:03 PM, Tidgy's Dad said:

Very kind of you to say so. 

I'm glad you're enjoying them. 

Here's some more items from the shop :

 

 

 

Adam, again its been great to see all of these photos/tours...making me think more of some of the stuff I have that I've simply stuffed in a box somewhere unfortunately and never looked at very closely! I should! Maybe you've said somewhere in this or other threads but are these polished/cut ammonoids in this photo from a specific formation? Are they generally just one genus or bunches of different ones? I've got one somewhere. 

 

Are there ever any plant fossils in those shelves? I've seen some of the agatized cones around in shows and on online but was wondering?

 

Regards, Chris 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Thanks again. 

The cut and polished pieces can be anything from many genera of Devonian goniatites from several different formations and ages to Jurassic ammonites. They may all be preserved in haematite or calcite etc and are often very hard to id as they will often all be said to be from Erfoud which is not the case. 

 

I can't recall seeing any plant fossils here this trip except some cones. Most fossils sold here are trilobites, cephalopods and crinoids with a few polished corals and vertebrate bits. Plants, like brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods, graptolites, sponges, bryozoans etc are not considered worth the shelf space.

I have a cone from a horsetail lying around the place somewhere. These are often sold as pine cones. 

[fishguy]

Very nice tour. Wish I could do in person.

[Tidgy's Dad]

3 hours ago, fishguy said:

Very nice tour. Wish I could do in person.

Thanks! 

I'm quite certain you'd love it here.

One day.............................

[Tidgy's Dad]

An update on the "Orthoceras marble" :

 

 I've been doing some more research and chatting on and off for the last couple of years and have some updated information ;

This black limestone with orthocerids is actually called "The Temperoceras Limestone" or more formally the Filon Douze-Tafilet Bed, Tempoceras Limestone Section. Filon 12 is a series of mineral mines near the mountains of Taouz, but the beds outcrop for many kilometres heading north to the area around Tafilet between Erfoud and Rissani. and are extensively quarried near  Hassi Tachbit, east of Rissani, as I thought. The material is often then transported and sold to the folks in Erfoud for prepping, polishing and resale. The age is Lowermost Ludfordian, Upper Ludlow, so about 425 million years old. 

The orthocones found in this black rock include : 

Hemicosmoceras semibricatum,

Kionoceras doricum, criss-crossed ridges on shell exterior Can't be seen on polished specimens, of course. But it's slightly curved and can have swollen areas along the length. 

Kopaninoceras dorsatoides 

Kopaninoceras thyrsus

Temperoceras ludense By far the most common species. Is a member of the family Geisonoceratidae. as I thought. 

Plagiostomoceras pleurotomum  Long and thin, ridged.

Plagiostomoceras culter Long, thin and smooth. 

Parasphaerorthoceras sp. 

Sphooceras truncatum Short, fat and rounded at the posterior end. 

And rarely : 

Arionoceras canonicum

Subormoceras sp. 

Michelinoceras sp.

 

So most of those shown in the shops in this thread will probably be Temperoceras ludense. 

 

Close_ups of my specimens :

Edited July 5, 2022 by Tidgy's Dad

[Tidgy's Dad]

There are also a certain amount of polished pieces of black "orthocerd marble available further south in Western Sahara (Moroccan Sahara) and online that are not current aligned like the majority of the pieces from the Tempoceras limestone. Obviously , if you just have a single orthocone in your piece then it's hard to tell, but most are from the Tempoceras limestone. 

And be careful as some of these unaligned specimens are composites made up of single specimens from the Tempoceras limestone. 

 

These unaligned limestones are mined from the area around Tazzarine, south-west of Erfoud and also outcrop in the Western Sahara. I don't have any specimens to show you, but these beds are younger, being from the Pridoli epoch at the top of the Silurian, and  contain the species : 

 

Michelinoceras "michelini" 

Kopaninoceras jucundum

Arionoceras affine

Arionoceras aff. capillosum

Arionoceras submoniliforme

Harrisoceras vibrayei. 

 

They are known locally as The Arionoceras Limestone Beds. 

 

 

And a link to the next part of the adventure is here : 

 

For those new to this and want to see the first installment of my adventures in Morocco you can begin here :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

The next part of the fun and games is here : 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/94222-ait-benhaddou-sub-sahara-morocco/&tab=comments#comment-1038812

 

The first part of this sequence of threads can be found here : 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kev.s]

What an interesting experience! Got to visit the place someday... it's on the list now

[Tidgy's Dad]

On 11/13/2022 at 5:18 PM, kev.s said:

What an interesting experience! Got to visit the place someday... it's on the list now

I've lived here for 17 years now. 

Definitely recommended. 

Thank you for the comment and interest. 

[PaleoPastels]

WOW how in the world am I just NOW seeing this thread!? So informative goodness, thank you! I rarely buy fossils except the occasional mosasaurus tooth lot to fill up a glass square box I have in my hallway because I like my specimen to be super labeled with the location/period/age/quarry/formation/etc. Some of those more genuine-looking fossils look super neat! 
 

All I can think about are those unfortunate fossils that were turned into a bidet/toilet. I know they’re super dead but…   

[Tidgy's Dad]

4 hours ago, AmmoniteDelight said:

 

All I can think about are those unfortunate fossils that were turned into a bidet/toilet. I know they’re super dead but…   

Thank you for the kind words. It's great this thread is still of some interest and use. 

 

I wouldn't mind being turned into a bidet or toilet after I'm super dead. Or just dead, actually. 

But not a moment before.   

[DPS Ammonite]

18 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

I wouldn't mind being turned into a bidet or toilet after I'm super dead. Or just dead, actually. 

But not a moment before.   

Do they make toilets out of bone china?

[Wrangellian]

Adam, when you say 'Tafilet', is that the same as Tafilalet/Tafilalt, and what is the proper spelling, anyway (if there is one)?

[Tidgy's Dad]

6 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

Adam, when you say 'Tafilet', is that the same as Tafilalet/Tafilalt, and what is the proper spelling, anyway (if there is one)?

Draa-Tafilalet is a region that contains the Tafilalet Oasis. 

Tafilalt or Tafilet are older names, often still used for the same region. 

All are acceptable.