Ordovician

The Ordovician period lasted roughly 485–444 million years ago. Long before dinosaurs, and long before the Sahara desert, this region’s story was still being written by ancient oceans.

Erfoud during the Ordovician

In Ordovician time, many fossil stories are still marine. Think shallow seas, sea-floor habitats, and long stretches of geological time where sediments accumulated and later became fossil-bearing rock. This is an even older chapter than the Devonian, and it helps explain why Morocco is so rich in Paleozoic sea life.

What was living back then?

Ordovician seas are known for diverse marine life. Depending on the layer and location, the wider Paleozoic story often includes:

• Trilobites — common and diverse in early Paleozoic oceans.
• Brachiopods — abundant shell-bearing marine animals.
• Crinoid relatives and sea-floor life — parts and fragments preserved in marine rocks.
• Corals and reef-life — early reef ecosystems in some areas.
• Other marine shells and sea-floor fossils depending on the environment.

Ordovician content helps you place Morocco’s fossils on the deep timeline of Earth—an ocean world far older than dinosaurs.