Fine Fossil Sea Turtle Skull from Cretaceous Morocco

Description: This is a fine example of a skull from the seagoing reptile Lytoloma elegans coming from the Late Cretaceous/Early Paleocene phosphate bed deposits near Khouribga, Morocco. Examples of the relatives of these coastal and marine turtles have been found in deposits of the opening Atlantic coastline of West Africa, the interior of the Sahara, North Africa, and Western Europe. This fine specimen comes from the phosphate mine region of the Khouribga Plateau of Morocco. One of the suppliers of this material described for me the mad scramble that ensues when a section of wall is dynamited. The locals move in swiftly, collecting the fossils exposed before the earth moving equipment arrives. Pieces such as this are the result of those efforts.