ORTHOCERAS FOSSIL PLAQUE (EXTRA LARGE) - Sahara Desert, Morocco

DEVONIAN PERIOD:  395-345 million years ago

If you are looking for a spectacular and large display example of orthoceras then this specimen comes with high recommendations.  It is a superb single giant slab filled with wonderful and completely natural orthoceras fossils given a high polish to better view the creature from its surrounding matrix.  These are not the common composites you see typically offered in the market but are 100% authentic heavy fossil rock slabs.  The slab features very high relief as well as dramatic texture and detail.  As these forms of prehistoric squid were covered in ocean sediments prior to fossilization, the majority of the creatures will be facing in the same relative position having been lined up by currents on the sea floor prior to being buried.

Orthoceras are extinct members of the cephalopod class.  These primitive sea creatures are similar to the modern chambered nautilus, but grew a straight shell rather than a coiled one.  Now extinct, the 345 - 395 million year old Devonian age orthoceras, meaning "straight horn", is an ancestor of the squid and octopus.  

Orthoceras were among the most advanced of the invertebrates having eyes, jaws, and a sophisticated nervous system. They swam freely using a jet propulsion system by squirting water from their bodies. They had tentacles and ink sacs much like the present-day squid. As they died, their shells accumulated in great numbers on the sea floor where they were aligned by currents, buried by sediments, and transformed over the ages into stone by various physical and chemical processes. 

This hand-select, superb example is a very large single slab that makes for a stunning display piece for the discriminating collector or designer.

VERY WELL-DETAILED CREATURES ACROSS THE ENTIRE ROCK!

20.5" x 13" overall size

SOLD     OR401     Actual Item - One Only     INCLUDES STAND

275