Fossils and amphorae confiscated at castle shop

(Photo: Guardia Civil)

CASTELLAR Members of the Seprona nature conservation unit of the Guardia Civil recently confiscated ten amphorae and the same number of ammonite fossils, some of which are quite large, at a souvenir shop in the castle, where they on display for sale. Seprona carries out routine inspections of such shops as part of its function as a protector of items of historical interest. The fossils come under the protection of laws related to wild native species - these, fossilised sea life, are presently considered extinct although there are plenty to be found embedded in rock in various places throughout Los Alcornocales Nature Park. The amphorae, usually of Roman origin and used for transporting wine and other liquids, are under the aegis of Historical and Patrimonial laws. The items are now being inspected by experts from the Culture and Environment Council of Andalucía.

Carpenter finds 144 million year old squid fossil by chance

Neocomites neocomiensis, bottom, left

ALGECIRAS (Source & photo: Europa Sur) Manuel Santos Quirós, a cabinet maker by trade, found a very precious and rare fossil as he was out walking. When he told his friend, biologist Federico Sánchez Tundidor (a teacher at the Instituto in Jimena), it turned out to be that of a squid set in Pyrite and of a quality that has never before been seen in the area. Weighing 50 grams and 42 x 32 x 18 mm in size, it comes from the Jurassic era, according to Sánchez Tundidor. His friend the cabinet maker, an admittedly enthusiastic collector of fossils, got the surprise of his collector's life when he discovered the squid among a good handful of Pyrites, near the centre iof Algeciras. The piece is perfectly shaped, with a bulge at the mouth that would have contained some ten tentacles, which never fossilise. Its density means that the inner compartments are perfectly preserved in pure ferrous pyrite, and it is perfectly identifiable as Neocomites neocomiensis. Only one in one hundred million of these animals become fossils, says Tundidor, and only one in one billion do so in pyrite, which explains its incalculable value.>>>