Morocops ovatus Trilobite

Description

The Morocops ovatus Trilobite comes from the Upper Emsian Stage of Morocco. The specimen here has the facets of the right eye showing perfect. The left eye has some surface damage or is repaired. The pleura of the right side are dented in due to natural processess. Granules showing on Head, tail and thorax. All together a well preserved specimen.

The initial crack goes along the right side of the Trilobite

These cracks are not avoidable. They occur, when quarry workers crack the rock in order to find fossils. Fossils don’t grow on rocks, they hide inside. Unfortunately in the layers of the hardy Devonian rocks, fossils appear in all directions. Once the rock is broken the fossil is discovered. Due to the nature of these rocks and the position of the fossil, the fossil is broken too. Experienced Preparators take on the task to glue them back together and to chisel or grind them out. In general cracks and some preparation marks are not avoidable and show that the fossil is real and not faked. There is no damage or replaced parts on this Trilobite

Moroccan Trilobites like this Morocops ovatus Trilobite are often master pieces of preparation art. Mining of fossils and their preparation is a great source of income for the people, that live in the oasis of the Sahara desert. Whole villages depend on it. Some of the Trilobites processed take up to 100 hours of preparation.

The fossil measures 5 cm or 2 inches from head front to tails end.

Devonian trilobites from Morocco can be seen in the web galery of the American Museum for Natural History, link here:  https://www.amnh.org/research/paleontology/collections/fossil-invertebrate-collection/trilobite-website/gallery-of-trilobites/devonian-period-trilobites/devonian-trilobites-of-morocco-africa-alphabetized

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