Orthoceras Fossil

Polished slabs or pieces containing fossilized Orthoceras — extinct straight-shelled cephalopods related to the spiral ammonites, preserved as elongated tube-like fossils in dark limestone matrix.

Details

• Form: Fossil in polished matrix
• Origin: Morocco
• Mineral: Limestone matrix with fossil shells
• Age: Approximately 400-500 million years (Ordovician-Silurian)

About the stone

Orthoceras is an extinct genus of cephalopods — relatives of modern squid, octopus, and nautilus — that lived approximately 400-500 million years ago in ancient seas. Unlike the spiral ammonites, Orthoceras had a straight, conical shell. They are found preserved in dark limestone slabs from Morocco, often polished to reveal the fossilized shells in cross-section.

In crystal tradition

In crystal tradition (and broader natural-history practice), Orthoceras is long-valued as a fossil of deep time — half a billion years old, predating the dinosaurs by hundreds of millions of years. Often kept as a touchstone for perspective and the long view of geological history.

Each piece is one of a kind. Natural variations in colour, shape, size, and pattern are part of what makes the stone what it is — the photograph shows a representative example, your piece will look slightly different.