Colonial Rugose Polished Coral Head - Phillipsastrea - Assa Zag/W. Sahara

A unique Colonial Rugose Polished Coral Head (Phillipsastrea), which is sold as seen.

Dimensions: approx. 8cms x 8cms x 4cms
Weight: 343g

Geology & History: Phillipsastrea is a genus of extinct colonial rugose coral from the Paleozoic era which lived during the Devonian Period (around 400 to 360 million years ago). Often called horn corals due to the shapes of their solitary relatives, these colonial species grew as massive, interconnected reef-forming mounds in shallow, tropical marine environments

Phillipsastrea colonial rugose coral heads feature star-shaped individual coral tubes known as corallites and are stunning when cut and polished as the dense calcite skeleton reveals striking starry or honeycomb-like internal patterns, similar to Michigan's famous Petoskey stones. These fossils grew in dome like colonies and are primarily sourced from the vast desert environments of the Assa-Zag region of Morocco and the Western Sahara region and are remnants of the warm, shallow prehistoric seas and ancient carbonate reef platforms that covered North Africa during the Devonian Period.