Morocco Fossil hunt trip

[Tidgy's Dad]

On 4/26/2019 at 1:59 PM, OwlEyes said:

After the first stop for orthoceras, we drove for another 2 hours off road in the desert to get to Calymene trilobite from Upper Ordovician.  The guide took us there because it doesn't require too much digging and my son can just pick up the fossils on the ground.  It is truth, partial trilobite are everywhere.  My son pickup his first one the first minutes he out of the car.  However, it is harder to find a complete one.  We managed to found 3 complete Calymene.  We have a picnic for lunch there.

Nice finds! 

I can't tell for sure if the pygidium has smooth sides or not, but it looks quite smooth to me. If they are smooth it's Colpocorype, if not smooth pygidial flanks, it's Flexicalymene.

Was malachite the other mineral found in the area where the amethyst was? 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

On 4/27/2019 at 3:58 AM, Wrangellian said:

Great fossils! Excellent report. I wish I could go there too and collect some of those echinoderms (starfish, brittle stars, edrioasteroids, cystoids...) and the unpolished orthocones/ammonoids (and shouldn't forget the trilo's), but I'll likely never make it and will have to settle for buying some from other people...

Looks like you found all the good spots. Too bad you couldn't get the jellyfish (which I assume is actually the enigmatic Discophyllum)..

@Tidgy's Dad, do you know about these sites??

There are literally hundreds of these sites in Morocco, but some of these I am very interested in, particularly the echinoderm place. 

Finances and health preclude me doing much, but I must try the echinoderm site. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Looks like a wonderful trip. 

Glad you and your son had such a great time and found some really good stuff. 

[Wrangellian]

3 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

There are literally hundreds of these sites in Morocco, but some of these I am very interested in, particularly the echinoderm place. 

Finances and health preclude me doing much, but I must try the echinoderm site. 

Well I hope you make it there and collect lots, maybe even some trading material? (One can always hope.)

[OwlEyes]

13 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Nice finds! 

I can't tell for sure if the pygidium has smooth sides or not, but it looks quite smooth to me. If they are smooth it's Colpocorype, if not smooth pygidial flanks, it's Flexicalymene.

Was malachite the other mineral found in the area where the amethyst was? 

 

I don't think it smooth.  For the green mineral, my husband just told me it is copper.

[OwlEyes]

13 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Looks like a wonderful trip. 

Glad you and your son had such a great time and found some really good stuff. 

Thanks.  The trip is so awesome.  I am working on prepping the fossils now.  I post pictures when I finish.  It is my first time doing it.

[taj]

On 4/27/2019 at 11:25 AM, jpc said:

really?  

 

Really , there is some push to change laws , because need to preserve geological heritage , etc , etc ... with all the usual drivers . How this will turn out , no one knows , this is Morocco , but some restrictive move is not out of the picture .

[Kane]

9 minutes ago, taj said:

Really , there is some push to change laws , because need to preserve geological heritage , etc , etc ... with all the usual drivers . How this will turn out , no one knows , this is Morocco , but some restrictive move is not out of the picture .

Enforcement might be a whole other matter, but I could see any restrictions being self-defeating given that the Moroccan fossil trade contributes over $40 million (MAD380 million) to their national economy annually, sustaining the livelihoods of over 50,000 people. 

[taj]

1 minute ago, Kane said:

Enforcement might be a whole other matter, but I could see any restrictions being self-defeating given that the Moroccan fossil trade contributes over $40 million to their national economy annually, sustaining the livelihoods of over 50,000 people. 

Clear , but again this is Morocco ......and that is the restraining factor , the driving factors being the need for international visibility , etc .....

[Tidgy's Dad]

32 minutes ago, OwlEyes said:

I don't think it smooth.  For the green mineral, my husband just told me it is copper.

Yes, malachite is a green mineral which is a copper carbonate hydroxide. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

1 hour ago, taj said:

Clear , but again this is Morocco ......and that is the restraining factor , the driving factors being the need for international visibility , etc .....

Tis not impossible, but Morocco has bigger fish to fry than passing such laws. The south is already beginning protests and demonstrations because of the lack of investment and the highest unemployment figures in the country so i think it highly unlikely that the government would do anything more than a ban on the export and sale of 'cultural heritage', a law that already exists and in this case includes the sail of prize, near complete or unique vertebrate specimens. This has already been acted upon on a couple of occasions, but I'd be amazed if the general collecting, sale, export and tourism sector connected to fossils and minerals is under any threat whatsoever. 

[taj]

Did not know the south was stirring , but not surprising . Morocco being the most stable country in the area , let`s see where this will lead .

[goatinformationist]

What a fantastic trip for your son.  Having said that wouldn't it have been easier to lower him down that well?

[OwlEyes]

15 hours ago, goatinformationist said:

What a fantastic trip for your son.  Having said that wouldn't it have been easier to lower him down that well?

The guide said an adult need to go down first, after my husband was down there, I was worry and told him to go back up.  So it is the end of our dinosaur teeth digging effort :).

[mikeymig]

Great pictures!!! Looks like you went collecting on Mars  

[JarrodB]

Great trip report. Thanks for sharing. 

[Max-fossils]

Such an awesome report with so much stuff! I'm really impressed! Congrats to you and your son on having found so many amazing fossils during this fantastic trip. Glad to see you had a great time! I've been wanting to go to Morocco for a long time too, and now I wanna do that even more  

[OwlEyes]

Yesterday is National Fossil Day.  My son bring his Morocco and Texas fossils to class to share with his classmate.  He talks about the fossils and ask some questions.  He gives small fossils as prize to the friends who get the correct answer.

 

I make this video clip and I want to share it here.  We all have great time.

 

 

[GreatWhiteMac]

On 4/26/2019 at 12:55 AM, caldigger said:

The ones I have from Kem Kem came labeled as Onchopristis numudus.

 

It looks like you had a great time. I guess the "well excursion" is definately not for the claustrophobic! 

Yup, you are correct on the species of Sawfish Rostral Caldigger! But I am pretty sure it is spelt numidus.