colebiederman Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 As most of you know, there are no lack of fossils coming out of Morocco, including trilobites, crinoids, and even fish. My question is, why? I understand that the country is large and spans the equivalent of several U.S. states, but it seemingly produces so many more fossils than elsewhere in the world, especially when it comes to trilobites. Is it simply because they rely more on the revenue of the fossils? The fossils coming out of Morocco seem to be very well preserved as well, and I understand that there are localities in the U.S. that have exceptional preservation as well, but the fossils coming out of Morocco seem like they overwhelm all other areas. Thank you all to any insight you can lend to this question. This forum is such a good place for information and to learn, and I hope one day I can give back to the forum with my own knowledge. Until then, back to learning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 Why? Because there is an army of people literally mining for them. The local populace is extremely poor, and a few dollars is a lot of money for them. So they mine, and some make fakes, and local bosses buy them and ship them in bulk to buyers around the world. 1 1 2 Professional fossil preparation services at Red Dirt Fossils, LLC. https://reddirtfossils.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colebiederman Posted August 8 Author Share Posted August 8 Just now, hadrosauridae said: Why? Because there is an army of people literally mining for them. The local populace is extremely poor, and a few dollars is a lot of money for them. So they mine, and some make fakes, and local bosses buy them and ship them in bulk to buyers around the world. That's what I was kind of thinking. Thank you for the insight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 Also, it is a very arid region with thin vegetation, not much soil, and plenty of exposures. 1 1 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 additionally, I think that at least some of the productive rock units are both incredibly rich as well as geographically widespread. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colebiederman Posted August 8 Author Share Posted August 8 1 hour ago, jpc said: additionally, I think that at least some of the productive rock units are both incredibly rich as well as geographically widespread. That would make sense. I know it's not measurable, but I wonder how that compares to some of the localities in the U.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriVeratops Posted August 9 Share Posted August 9 There’s a whole cottage industry around extracting fossils, prepping fossils and creating fakes in many different areas of Morocco. If you’re curious, there are lots of videos on youtube showing how and where it’s done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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