Russell Shapiro takes students to Morocco

Chico State Paleontology Professor Really Digs Fossils

Michael Drummond(opens in new window), February 21, 2025

He went to Morocco for the waters.

Actually, he went for the ancient life that lived in the waters in modern-day Morocco.

Russell Shapiro, a professor in Chico State’s Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, led an expedition to the North Africa nation this winter with two undergraduates and one graduate student.

The two-week journey was a scientific success for the students, who returned with fossils and a deeper appreciation of the Earth’s complex history.

Shapiro, a nationally recognized expert in geobiology and paleontology, led the team that unearthed one of the largest deposits of Miocene-era animal fossils in state history outside Sacramento in 2021. While finding massive mastodon tusks and other fossils animated his inner Indiana Jones, the hunt for tiny organisms in Morocco was just as thrilling.

He and his student team sought to uncover and study fossilized brachiopods, known as lamp shells, in the ancient reef systems of Morocco’s mountains. Lamp shells, which date back over 550 million years, have witnessed multiple mass extinctions. They still exist, although they are rare. By analyzing their distribution patterns, paleontologists can infer the positions of ancient deep-sea vents.

“Brachiopods have one organ that breathes, grabs, and eats,” Shapiro said. “Their simplicity and adaptability are pretty amazing.” Shapiro’s team will analyze the specimens they collected to determine how these organisms adapted to different environments over geological time. Such findings will shed light on which brachiopods adapted to deep-sea methane seeps—and which did not.

Ancient Seeps and Morocco’s Fossil Treasure Trove

Shapiro has long been fascinated by methane seeps, ancient underwater vents where methane gas escapes from beneath the seabed. “Life as we know it is essentially a battery,” Shapiro said. “It relies on positive and negative charges, and the simplest gas—methane—is a key player in early life.” These seeps supported unique ecosystems, forming fossilized remains that are hard to find today. Only about 100 such sites are known globally, making every discovery precious. Morocco’s well-preserved reef systems provided an ideal setting to explore these ancient ecosystems. The team’s findings could reshape our understanding of how life thrived in such environments.

But finding the elusive fossilized brachiopod colonies took some sleuthing. An obscure 1969 report and references in 19th-century documents helped the team locate the brachiopod sites. One paragraph hinted at the existence of certain brachiopods in Morocco, leading the team to their discovery.

“For a couple of our sites, all we had to rely on were some rough coordinates and vague descriptions translated from a French paper published in the ’60s,” said Evan Hoeft, a graduate student who had conducted digs in Morocco previously. “We planned as well as we could, but there was still a lot of uncertainty.”

Building Global Connections and Future Opportunities

The trip, funded through a Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (RSCA) grant, also fostered international collaboration. The team developed strong ties with a local paleontologist in Meknes, and members of the Amazigh (Berber) tribes whose knowledge of the region proved invaluable. These relationships could pave the way for future research opportunities.

The students who participated in the Morocco dig gained invaluable real-world experience, from navigating fieldwork challenges to engaging with local experts. “I want students to do something and see it through to the end,” Shapiro said. “This trip wasn’t just about fossils—it was about igniting curiosity and teaching resilience.”

Geology undergraduate student Margaret Flanagan said she was nervous about her ability to contribute to the dig but relied on an extremely supportive department and mentor in Shapiro.

“The biggest challenge for me was to take in so much information,” she added. “We went to such a variety of sites and the geological story that we are working to unravel is really quite huge, so it was kind of constant input. But I wouldn’t have had it any other way, really—I learned so much.”

The team returned with dozens of fossil samples, collected under a research permit from the Moroccan government. The significance of their work became clear. These brachiopods, with their survival through eons, are a testament to life’s resilience and adaptability.

The discoveries made in Morocco will fuel further studies into ancient ecosystems and the broader story of life on Earth, Shapiro said. And he never tires of the field work. “I get to go hunting without killing anything.”