Mineral & Fossil Co-Op is Natural History Up Close and Personal...and For Sale!
Part One: Temporary Vendors
The Mineral & Fossil Co-Op is Tuscson's permanent exhibit located in a large warehouse in the on Oracle Drive. There are a few anchor vendors that operate throughout the year that are joined by visiting dealers during the main Tucson Gem Show in January and a smaller event held in the fall.
Visiting Vendors
The Bug House
The Bug House is a Utah based company that specializes in selling educational fossil kits, local rock specimens, and sliced geodes mined from Utah.
www.thebughouse.net
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| Dendritic Stone from Utah |
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| Trilobite Educational Kits |
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| Utah Septarian Nodule Geode |
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| Loy Crapo, Owner of the Bug House |
The Red Gallery
The Red Gallery is a German company specializing in high quality minerals and fossils for home decor. They set up a temporary showroom at the Co-op every year to sell large amethyst geodes and collectible fossil wall decor.
www.redgallery.com
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| A Rare Fossilized Sea Shrimp |
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| A Rare Fossilized Insect |
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| Red Gallery Storefront |
Larson Paleontology
Larson Paleontology are fossil consultants as well as fossil vendors. They will assist buyers with purchasing and appraising their fossil collections.
Their ammonite collection is particularly beautiful.
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| Fossilized Ammonite with the Ammolite still intact |
Sahara Overland
Sahara Overland is a Moroccan based fossil retail company that travels to Tucson every year to sell fossils found from their digs in Morocco. In 2015, they housed their show in the Co-Op.
It was a pleasure to see their latest fossil discoveries at the Co-op. They had a large female sea turtle fossil and a smaller baby sea turtle fossil on display. It was found in Sidi Chennane Phosphate Mine in the Ouled Abdoun Basin in the Morocco. This area is famous for it fossil finds, and in fact, the last living
African dinosaur was found in the basin last year.
The Ouled Abdoun Basin is a phosphate sedimentary deposit created by an ancient sea millions of years ago. The sea turtles were found while mining for phosphate. Apparently, companies, like Sahara Overland, wait patiently for the call from the mining companies for a new fossil find. The fossil hunters only have a few hours to extract the bones so that the mining operation is not disrupted.
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| Sahara Overland's Fossil Exhibit with Alienochelys Selloumi Fossils |
