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Mazon Monday #322: Asterophyllites longifolius
Read more: Mazon Monday #322: Asterophyllites longifoliusAsterophyllites longifolius like its sister taxon Asterophyllites equisetiformis (see Mazon Monday #103), formed part of the foliage of the giant horsetail-like plant Calamites. Both species are known from Mazon Creek, but while A. equisetiformis is common, A. longifolius is a very rare. One distinguishing characteristic of A. longifolius is that the leaves are longer than the distance between the internodes. There are nearly twenty species of Asterophyllites, although only a few are known from Mazon Creek.
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PBS Eons: The Mystery of the Missing Deep-Sea Fish
Read more: PBS Eons: The Mystery of the Missing Deep-Sea FishPBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about the evolution of fish.
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Introducing Laueropterus!
Read more: Introducing Laueropterus!On his blog “Archosaur Musings”, David Hone has an excellent post about the newly described pterosaur Laueropterus, which was named for the Bruce and Rene’ Lauer of the Lauer Foundation. Bruce and Rene’ are long time ESCONI members. They do extraordinary work in Paleontology, Science, and Education. Their work and accomplishments have been featured many times on our website. Pictured below are René and Bruce with Andrew Young at the 2025 ESCONI Holiday Party.
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Fossil Friday #317: Silurian Aquatic Scorpion From the Kokomo Limestone
Read more: Fossil Friday #317: Silurian Aquatic Scorpion From the Kokomo LimestoneThis undescribed aquatic scorpion dates to the Silurian Period and was collected by Sam Ciurca from the Kokomo Limestone at Yeoman Quarry near Kokomo, Indiana, in 1975. Measuring about 2 inches in length, this animal is extraordinarily rare, with only a handful of specimens known.
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Throwback Thursday #317: The Fossil Story from Shell Oil Co.
Read more: Throwback Thursday #317: The Fossil Story from Shell Oil Co.I saw this video mentioned the May 1956 edition of the ESCONI newsletter (see Throwback Thursday #316). I vaguely remember watching it in grade school. It’s interesting how our view of paleontology changed with the addition of plate tectonics.
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ESCONI May 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting Saturday, May 16th, 2026 at 7:30 PM via Zoom – “An Ordovician Konzentrat Lagerstätte: The Dixon Mifflin Residuum Fauna”
Read more: ESCONI May 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting Saturday, May 16th, 2026 at 7:30 PM via Zoom – “An Ordovician Konzentrat Lagerstätte: The Dixon Mifflin Residuum Fauna”John will begin the program by introducing what a Konzentrat-Lagerstätten consists of and a brief introduction of the Platteville Formation. The depositional environment of the Mohawkian Sea, home of the Platteville fauna sets the stage for the faunal comparison.
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ESCONI Field Trip to Mount Orab for Trilobites – Saturday, July 11th, 2026
Read more: ESCONI Field Trip to Mount Orab for Trilobites – Saturday, July 11th, 2026ESCONI will have a field trip to Flat Run Fossils in Mt. Orab, OH on Saturday July 11, 2026. There is an attendance limit of 16 people. Flat Run Fossils is a new pay-to-dig site in the famous Mt. Orab trilobite beds. For many years, thousands of gorgeous Flexicalymene and Isotelus trilobites have been collected from this area. Other possible finds include brachiopods, graptolites, cephalopods, and crinoids. You will certainly walk away with trilobites – they are not hard to find!
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Mazon Monday #321: So, where’s the shrimp?!?
Read more: Mazon Monday #321: So, where’s the shrimp?!?Andy Jansen wrote this article for the December 2007 edition of the ESCONI newsletter. Andy has been an ESCONI board member for many years. He’s currently our Treasurer and Librarian. If you attended our show in March, he was in his usually position at the book display and sale tables.
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A 75-million-year-old fossil reveals a shocking tyrannosaur secret
Read more: A 75-million-year-old fossil reveals a shocking tyrannosaur secretScience Daily has a story about the feeding habits of tyrannosaurs. The diet of tyrannosaurs has been long and sometimes controversial, remember when it was proposed that T-rex was a scavenger? Well a new paper in the journal Evolving Earth, found evidence of cannibalism from marks on a massive tyrannosaur foot bone. Interestingly, the marks were very small and suggest scavenging by a smaller individual.
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The Rise of Eyes Began With Just One
Read more: The Rise of Eyes Began With Just OneCarl Zimmer has an interesting article over at the New York Times. He discusses the evolution of eye… but how many eyes? Some of our early ancestors, about 560 million years ago, might have had only one. During the Cambrian Period, 518 million years ago, some early vertebrates from China may have had two pairs of eyes, one on each side and a second pair on the top of their heads.
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Fossil Friday #316: Asterophyllites longifolius
Read more: Fossil Friday #316: Asterophyllites longifoliusRecently, Marie Angkuw mentioned that she had required a large, and very sweet example of Asterophyllites longifolius. She found this specimen at an antique mall. The fossil was part of an old collection. I wonder if it was the “oldest” antique at the mall?
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ESCONI May 2026 General Meeting Friday, May 8th, 2026 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – “Seeing Beneath the Ground: Geophysics and Archaeological Explorations in Illinois”
Read more: ESCONI May 2026 General Meeting Friday, May 8th, 2026 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – “Seeing Beneath the Ground: Geophysics and Archaeological Explorations in Illinois”The ESCONI General Meeting for May 2026 will be held on May 8th, 2026 at 8:00 PM via Zoom. Thomas Loebel from the Illinois State Archaeological Survey will present “Seeing Beneath the Ground: Geophysics and Archaeological Explorations in Illinois”. Thomas will explain how archaeologists find sites, specifically how they use geophysics or remote sensing to locate sites for testing and preservation purposes.
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Trilobite Tuesday #50: Penn Dixie: Dig With the Experts 2026 – June 13th and 14th, 2026
Read more: Trilobite Tuesday #50: Penn Dixie: Dig With the Experts 2026 – June 13th and 14th, 2026The Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Center are holding their annual “Dig With the Experts” event on June 13th and 14th, 2026. Details can be found be found on their website. We’ve featured a few trilobites from Penn Dixie for Fossil Friday. I went there a few years ago and had a great time. If you love trilobites, don’t miss this event!
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Mazon Monday #320: A shoot at the root? Unique development and evolution of the stigmarian apical meristem
Read more: Mazon Monday #320: A shoot at the root? Unique development and evolution of the stigmarian apical meristemOur friends at the Field Museum have been busy… this time it’s paleobotany. The paper “A shoot at the root? Unique development and evolution of the stigmarian apical meristem” was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B a few days ago. The authors should be familiar… Michael P. D’Antonio, C. Kevin Boyce, Michael P. Donovan, and Fabiany Herrera. Michael D’Antonio, Michael Donovan, and Fabiany Herrera work at the Field Museum, while C. Kevin Boyce is at Stanford University. All have been referenced in posts on our website.
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Keweenaw Week 2026 – August 2nd – 9th, 2026 in Michigan’s famous Keweenaw Peninsula
Read more: Keweenaw Week 2026 – August 2nd – 9th, 2026 in Michigan’s famous Keweenaw PeninsulaThe Copper Country Rock and Mineral Club is holding their annual Keweenaw Week for 2026 from August 2nd – 9th, 2026 up in Michigan’s famous Keweenaw Peninsula. Tickets are on sale now on this website. You can find out more on their website at https://ccrmc.info/.
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PBS Eons: How Dinosaurs May Have Cursed Us With Aging
Read more: PBS Eons: How Dinosaurs May Have Cursed Us With AgingPBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about how aging in mammals might be due to evolved traits while we lived alongside dinosaurs.
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Fossil Friday #315: Eubleptus danielsi
Read more: Fossil Friday #315: Eubleptus danielsiEubleptus danielsi belongs to the Palaeodictyoptera an extinct order of medium-sized to very large, primitive Palaeozoic paleopterous insects. E. danielsi was described by Anton Handlirsch in 1906. Handlirsch (1865 – 1935) was an Austrian entomologist, who worked extensively on many insect orders. He did significant work studying of fossil insects. Handlirsch described E. danielsi in “Revision of American Paleozoic insects. Proceedings of the United States National Museum“.
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ESCONI Field Trip to Braceville, IL for Mazon Creek Fossils – Saturday, May 30th and Sunday, May 31st, 2026
Read more: ESCONI Field Trip to Braceville, IL for Mazon Creek Fossils – Saturday, May 30th and Sunday, May 31st, 2026The ESCONI field trips to Braceville for Mazon Creek fossils are set for May 30th and 31st, 2026 from 9 AM to 3 PM. You can attend one or the other, but not both days. There is an attendance limit of 50 people each day. You must register to go on this trip. See rule 6 below for instructions. This is the ONLY way to register.
ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show
Most Recent Post
- Mazon Monday #322: Asterophyllites longifolius
Asterophyllites longifolius like its sister taxon Asterophyllites equisetiformis (see Mazon Monday #103), formed part of the foliage of the giant horsetail-like plant Calamites. Both species are known from Mazon Creek, but while A. equisetiformis is common, A. longifolius is a very rare. One distinguishing characteristic of A. longifolius is that the leaves are longer than the distance between the internodes. There are nearly twenty species of Asterophyllites, although only a few are known from Mazon Creek.
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Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings!
| Friday, May 2nd | Field Trip to Danville, IL. Details here. |
| Friday, May 8th | General Meeting – 8:00 PM via Zoom. Thomas Loebel will present “Seeing Beneath the Ground: Geophysics and Archaeological Explorations in Illinois”. |
| Saturday, May 9th | Junior Study Group Meeting – 2:00 PM, in person at the College of DuPage Technical Education Center (TEC) Building – Room 1038A (Map). “The Rock Cycle and Sedimentation” Specifics of this meeting are available from Scott Galloway, 630-670-2591, gallowayscottf@gmail.com. |
| Saturday, May 16th | Paleontology Study Group – 7:30 PM via Zoom. John Catalani will present “An Ordovician Konzentrat Lagerstätte: The Dixon Mifflin Residuum Fauna”. |
| Saturday, May 23rd | CGMA Show, Kane County Fairgrounds |
| Sunday, May 24th | CGMA Show, Kane County Fairgrounds |
| Saturday, May 30th | Field Trip to Braceville, IL. Details here. |
| Sunday, May 31st | Field Trip to Braceville, IL. Details here. |
| No meeting this month | Mineralogy Study Group |
