The locality of Jorf offers up a lot of well preserved Devonian trilobites. Amongst which are extremely rare species, such as this Ceratonurus, which I received as a commissioned work piece. Complete specimens are virtually impossible to obtain and so I was delighted to be able to prepare this rarity.

The so called “glass limestone” from Jorf is a very though, nearly flint-like type of stone, which is almost exclusively workable with a sand blaster. Usually the matrix separation from the fossil is quite poor. Although, when carefully preparing the fossil, the shell details can still be secured. 

This specimen was an exuviae and was, as requested by the owner, rearticulated, which means that the dislocated shell pieces were removed from the matrix and replaced at their original spots. Considering the extreme rarity and according high worth of this trilobite this presents an entirely reasonable decision. The entire work progress was extensively documented.  

Fossil: Ceratonurus sp. 

Locality: Jorf (Morocco)

Formation: Devonian

Length of the trilobite: 3 cm

Work required: 60 hours