DEVONIAN AMMONITES OF MOROCCO
Morocco has vast deposits of Devonian Limestone which date
back three hundred fifty million years. Ammonites found today
in Morocco once flourished in a warm shallow sea which covered
what is now the Sahara Desert. As the shells of the creatures
accumulated on the sea floor, they were buried by sediments and,
over the ages, transformed into stone by physical and chemical
processes. Today they are quarried from a marble (calcium carbonate)
deposit. The stone is carved and polished by Moroccan craftsmen
to reveal a rare glimpse of ancient life on earth.
Ammonoid, Orthoceres, Merzouga, Morocco
Orthoceres was one of the first members of the class Cephalopoda
to appear in the fossil record. Cephalopods are fast moving predatory
marine invertebrates. Living members of this group include squid,
octopi and nautiloids. Orthoceres was a creature similar to a
squid with eyes, tentacles and a 'toothlike' beak to tear its
prey apart. They had the ability to squirt ink to hide their
escape from an enemy. Orthoceres occupied an elongated straight
cone shaped shell. This extinct group of 'uncurled' cephalopods
first appeared during the Ordovician Period. A group of these
evolved into a semi-coiled form which is generally believed to
be an older (earlier) form which eventually gave rise to the
curled ammonites (also extinct) and the nautiloids which still
inhabit the oceans of the world today.
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