Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois

Around the Web

Spinosaurus relative longer than a pickup truck stalked Thailand’s rivers 125 million years ago

LiveScience has a story about a spinosaur that lived in Thailand 125 million years ago, during the early Cretaceous Period. The animal was about 25 feet long (7-8 meters) and likely ate the fish that swam in the rivers. The new dinosaur has yet to be named and was discovered in the Sam Ran locality […]
Read more: Spinosaurus relative longer than a pickup truck stalked Thailand’s rivers 125 million years ago
Around the Web

Ancient oceans were ruled by super predators unlike anything today

ScienceDaily has a story about the top predators of the past. Researchers from McGill University looked at Colombia’s Paja Formation, which dates to the early Cretaceous Period, some 122 million years ago. That formation preserves the ancient marine ecosystem, which had a very complex food chain, more so than the modern oceans. The paper was published […]
Read more: Ancient oceans were ruled by super predators unlike anything today
Mazon Creek, Mazon Monday

Mazon Monday #302: The Wreck of the 5560

This is Mazon Monday post #302. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The Marion Power Shovel Company was an American company that designed, manufactured, and built steam shovels, power shovels, blast hole drills, excavators, and dragline excavators. The company was headquartered in Marion, Ohio and operated from 1884 to 1997, when it […]
Read more: Mazon Monday #302: The Wreck of the 5560
Around the Web

Giant sea monsters lived in rivers at the end of the dinosaur age

ScienceDaily has a story about mosasaurs. It seems that giant mosasaurs didn’t just live in the oceans… they also prowled rivers. A large tooth found in a North Dakota deposit along with a Tyrannosaurus rex tooth and a jawbone from a crocodylian revealed an isotope signature consistent with a live in fresh water. See the […]
Read more: Giant sea monsters lived in rivers at the end of the dinosaur age
Around the Web

An Engine of Fossil Discovery Fights Its Own Extinction

The New York Times has a story about the financial troubles at the Museum of the Earth and the Paleontological Research Institution in Ithaca, N.Y. The institution was establish almost 100 years ago and has amassed one of the largest collections of fossils in North America. “No one has ever experienced trying to rehouse a […]
Read more: An Engine of Fossil Discovery Fights Its Own Extinction
Fossil Friday, Mazon Creek

Fossil Friday #297: Alethopteris serlii

This is the “Fossil Friday” post #296. Expect this to be a regular feature of the website. We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! This week’s Fossil Friday is a favorite of many […]
Read more: Fossil Friday #297: Alethopteris serlii
Mazon Creek, Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday #297: Season’s Greetings from the Langfords!

This is Throwback Thursday #297. In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general. If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc …), please send them to esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! email:esconi.info@gmail.com. George Langford, Sr. (1876–1964) was a prolific collector of Mazon Creek fossils, assembling multiple significant collections over his […]
Read more: Throwback Thursday #297: Season’s Greetings from the Langfords!
Calendar of Events, ESCONI Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show, Mazon Creek

2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #1: Tully Monsters

This is the preview post #1 for the 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2026 will be held on March 21th and 22nd at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here. […]
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #1: Tully Monsters
Around the Web

50 Insane Geography Facts About Illinois (You Won’t Believe)

Here’s a way to educate yourself about Illinois geography. This video is from the Across the Globe channel on Youtube. Illinois isn’t just cornfields, Chicago traffic, and deep-dish pizza, it’s one of the strangest states in America, and it’s hiding some of the wildest secrets in the entire Midwest. In this video, we reveal 50 […]
Read more: 50 Insane Geography Facts About Illinois (You Won’t Believe)
Mazon Creek, Mazon Monday

Mazon Monday #301: Cordaianthus ovatus

This is Mazon Monday post #301. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Cordaianthus ovatus is thought to be the fertile structure for Cordaites borassifolius (see Mazon Monday #299), an extinct genus of early gymnosperms. Cordaites probably grew to more than 100 feet tall in swampy conditions, forming forests similar to modern day mangroves. Cordaianthus […]
Read more: Mazon Monday #301: Cordaianthus ovatus
Around the Web

“Bones Almost on Top of Each Other” – Extraordinary Dinosaur Fossil Site Discovered in the Hațeg Basin

SciTechDaily has a story about an extraordinary dinosaur fossils site in Transylvania. The Hateg Basin is famous for its dinosaur fossils. The site dates to the late Cretaceous Period, some 72 million years ago. So far, thousands of fossils have been found, including bones of amphibians, turtles, crocodiles, dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and mammals. A recent paper in […]
Read more: “Bones Almost on Top of Each Other” – Extraordinary Dinosaur Fossil Site Discovered in the Hațeg Basin
Around the Web

PBS Eons: When a Tiny Land Bridge Triggered an Ice Age

There’s a new episode of PBS Eons. This one is about the origin of Panama and how it changed the world. On land, the Isthmus of Panama kicked off possibly the greatest natural experiment in the history of life on Earth. In the water, this narrow strip of land did something completely different: it divided. […]
Read more: PBS Eons: When a Tiny Land Bridge Triggered an Ice Age
Fossil Friday, Mazon Creek

Fossil Friday #296: Roachoid Wing from the Creek

This is the “Fossil Friday” post #296. Expect this to be a regular feature of the website. We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! This beautiful roachoid wing was collected from the Mazon […]
Read more: Fossil Friday #296: Roachoid Wing from the Creek
Calendar of Events

ESCONI Events for January 2026

Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings! Saturday, Jan 3rd Mineralogy Study Group – 7:30 PM via Zoom “Critical Minerals: What are they and Opportunities in Illinois” presented by Dr. Jared Freiburg of the Illinois State Geological Survey. Friday, Jan 9th General Meeting – 8:00 PM via Zoom Jean-Pierre Cavigelli, Tate Geological […]
Read more: ESCONI Events for January 2026
Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday #296: More Don Auler Mineral Slab Paintings

This is Throwback Thursday #295. In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general. If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc …), please send them to esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Don Auler and his wife Dorothy were very active with ESCONI from 1967 until 2002, when Don passed […]
Read more: Throwback Thursday #296: More Don Auler Mineral Slab Paintings
Around the Web

Archaeologists Find Oldest Evidence of Fire-Making

In his New York Times column, Carl Zimmer discusses evidence for the oldest usage of fire-making. A paper published in the journal Nature, reports that a group of Neanderthals used flint and pyrite to make fires about 400,000 years ago in what is now eastern England. This was something they did repeatedly over the course […]
Read more: Archaeologists Find Oldest Evidence of Fire-Making
Around the Web

Possible ancient artifacts are found in a B.C. thrift shop — and archeology scholars are on the case

The Conversation has a story about a chance discovery in a thrift shop. The owner of Thrifty Boutique in Chilliwack, B.C. reached out to the archaeologists at Simon Fraser University in the spring of 2024. The owner wanted to know if some ancient artifacts had historical significance. Turns out the objects in question date to […]
Read more: Possible ancient artifacts are found in a B.C. thrift shop — and archeology scholars are on the case
Mazon Creek, Mazon Monday

Mazon Monday #300: Mazon Creek horseshoe crab fossil shows evidence of ancient algal or parasitic infestation

This is Mazon Monday post #300. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The Lauer Foundation just won’t let the Mazon Creek horseshoe crabs alone… first it was Euproops danae remains in bromalites (see Mazon Monday #283), now they’ve found evidence of ancient algal or parasitic infestation in another Euproops danae fossil from the […]
Read more: Mazon Monday #300: Mazon Creek horseshoe crab fossil shows evidence of ancient algal or parasitic infestation
Calendar of Events, ESCONI Videos

Video for ESCONI December 2025 General Meeting – “Fossils of the Comanche National Grasslands located in southeastern Colorado”

The ESCONI December 2025 General Meeting was held on December 12th, 2025 at 8:00 PM via Zoom. The presenter was Steve Miller of the Western Interior Paleontological Society (WIPS). His topic is “Fossils of the Comanche National Grasslands located in southeastern Colorado”. Fossils of the Comanche National Grasslands located in southeastern Colorado The area offers […]
Read more: Video for ESCONI December 2025 General Meeting – “Fossils of the Comanche National Grasslands located in southeastern Colorado”
About ESCONI

ESCONI Board Members for 2026

President: Chris Berg 1st. Vice President: Katherine Howard 2nd. Vice President: Keith Robitschek Recording Secretary: Valerie Anderson Treasurer: Andrew Jansen Publicity: Jeff Allen Librarian: Andrew Jansen Curator: Chris Cozart Historian: Richard Holm Field Trip Chairman: Jeremy Zimmerman Assistant Field Trip Chairman: Connor Puritz Editor: Melanie Berg Circulation: Rose Jansen Past President: Phil Anderson Membership: Open Show Chairman: Phil […]
Read more: ESCONI Board Members for 2026

Saturday, Jan 3rd	Mineralogy Study Group – 7:30 PM via Zoom “Critical Minerals: What are they and Opportunities in Illinois” presented by Dr. Jared Freiburg of the Illinois State Geological Survey.
Friday, Jan 9th	General Meeting – 8:00 PM via Zoom Jean-Pierre Cavigelli, Tate Geological Museum, Casper College, will present “Fossil Birds of Wyoming”
Saturday, Jan 10th	Junior Study Group – 6:30 PM, TBA Specifics of this meeting are available from Scott Galloway, 630-670-2591, gallowayscottf@gmail.com. The meeting will be in person at the College of DuPage Technical Education Center (TEC) Building – Room 1038A (Map).
Saturday, Jan 17th	Paleontology Study Group – 7:30 PM via Zoom “Getting Lost Can Lead to Treasure – Edrioasteroids – What to Do When You Find Thousands” by Jack Kallmeyer President, Dry Dredgers

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