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Thursday, September 8, 2016

Cephalopod Fossil Almost as Tall as Door


While on a recent visit to the Musée de Mineralogie (Mineralogy Museum) located at the MINES ParisTech, 60 Boulevard Saint-Michel 75006 Paris France, a saw the most amazing fossil. It was a straight shelled cephalopod fossil that was over a meter long. I think the label listed in French read Orthoceras Paleozoic.

The fossil reminds me of the Ordovician cephalopod fossils we find in Kentucky but on a so much larger scale. I was surprised to find it in a mineral museum and not one on paleontology.


If you get a chance visit the museum in Paris and see this specimen for yourself. The museum appeared to be located on the 2nd floor of a university building and it appeared to be staffed by students and professors. There was a small admission fee. The brochure describes it as the cases and architecture as being from the middle 19th century (no A/C). Over 4,000 specimens are on display that belong to a collection of over 100,000 with some added to the collection over 250 years ago.


Learn more at their web site: www.musee.mines-paristech.fr