Orthoceras - Fossilised animal

Beautiful plaque with several specimens of Orthoceras from Morocco. These marine animals were among the first living forms to inhabit the planet. Discovery in the northwestern Sahara.

Orthoceras are extinct cephalopod mollusks, belonging to a group that is now extinct. These marine creatures lived in the oceans hundreds of millions of years ago, mainly during the Ordovician and Silurian periods. Their name, which in Greek means “straight horn,” refers to the distinctive shape of their conical, elongated shell. This shell was divided into chambers, separated by septa, and traversed by a siphon.

The Orthoceras shell is probably their most distinctive feature. It was made of aragonite, a mineral that also forms the shells of many current mollusks. Over time, under the influence of geological processes such as sedimentation and mineralization, these shells fossilized, giving rise to the specimens we admire today.

Fossils of Orthoceras are precious witnesses of marine life from a past era. Studying them allows scientists to reconstruct ancient ecosystems, understand the evolution of species, and better understand the major changes that have marked Earth's history.

***The display stand is not included***