LARGE MASS MORTALITY ORTHOCERAS SLAB. Orthoceras sp. . Ordovician. Sahara Desert, near Talmud, Morocco. ...

Description

LARGE MASS MORTALITY ORTHOCERAS SLAB
Orthoceras sp.
Ordovician
Sahara Desert, near Talmud, Morocco

A study in black and white, this mass mortality plate of fossil cephalopods (Orthoceras sp.) shows that there were millions of these sea dwelling creatures in what was once the Sahara Seas (now known as the Sahara Desert). The individual specimens have been sculpted out of the matrix using hand tools and painstakingly polished, creating a three dimensional effect. Their shell remnants have all been oriented in the same direction by the rhythmic motions of the crashing waves, and fossilized over the eons. This dynamic fossil plaque shows the huge variation in size of these ancient relatives of the squid and chambered nautilus: some are a mere few inches long while the longest specimen is over two feet in length at 25 1/2 inches.
Overall dimensions are 55 1/2 x 43 inches and it is approximately 5 inches thick. In fine condition.

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