Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois

Fossil Friday #325: Radstockia kidstonii

Jeremy Zimmerman sent in photos of this breathtaking Radstockia kidstonii. R. kidstonii is a very rare true fern from Mazon Creek. Its pinnules and fertile structures are similar to the modern fern Marattia alata.

Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday #325: Journey to the Beginning of Time

Ok, who remembers “Journey to the Beginning of Time” on Garfield Goose on morning television in Chicago? Just recently, the trailer to the US version of the movie recently appeared in one of my feeds, so I did a little research to find out more about the film/episodes.

Around the Web

‘Gus’ the T. rex presented in New York ahead of auction

Phys.org has an article about “Gus” the Tyrannosaurus rex. “Gus” lived during the late Cretaceous Period, about 67 million years ago. The fossil is about 61% complete by bone count and 75-80% by bone mass. It was discovered in Harding County, South Dakota in 2021. “Gus” is named after the late rancher Gary “Gus” Licking, on whose land it was found.

Around the Web

Scientists Discover the First-Ever Molecules Preserved Inside a 113-Million-Year-Old Pterosaur Fossil

SciTechDaily has a story about an exceptionally preserved pterosaur wing from Brazil. The animal lived about 113 million years ago, during the middle Cretaceous Period, in what is now northeastern Brazil. Its wing phalanx, which refers to the individual bone segments which make up the finger skeleton supporting the wing, was preserved in 3 dimensions with chemical traces that might provide clues to the its diet. The research “Multi-staged mineralization and biomarker preservation in a 113-million-year-old pterosaur bone via redox shifts in diagenesis” was published in the journal iScience.

Mazon Creek, Mazon Monday

Mazon Monday #330: A New Mazon Creek Worm

While you were getting ready to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday, a new fossil polychaete from Mazon Creek was being introduced to the world! It’s the first in annelid from Mazon Creek in over 20 years! Mazovermes magnaterminus was described in “The first new polychaete from the Mazon Creek fossil site in 20 years suggests cryptic annelid diversity in the Late Paleozoic”, which was published in the journal Geological Magazine. The paper is open access. The authors, Karma Nanglu, Jack Wittry, and Victoria McCoy, should be familiar to all of those interested in Mazon Creek fossils.

Around the Web

Inside the making of the world’s most modern natural history museum

National Geographic has an interesting story about the making of the new Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi. The museum opened in late 2025, with beautiful modern exhibits. This is the story of its making…

Mazon Creek

Happy 4th of July… the 250th Edition!

What better way to celebrate the 4th of July than with some beautiful Annularia fossils?!? We have a variety of species here, so sit back and enjoy the fireworks!

Fossil Friday, Mazon Creek

Fossil Friday #324: A Big Beautiful Acanthotelson stimpsoni

It’s not exactly fireworks, but this week’s beautiful Acanthotelson stimpsoni will leave you speechless. A. stimpsoni is a syncarid shrimp and one of the most common shrimp found amongst the fauna of Mazon Creek. Syncarida is a superorder of crustaceans. It consists of two extant orders Anaaspidacea and Bathynellacea, and one extinct order Paleocaridacea, to which Acanthotelson belongs.

Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday #324: Poem “Cephalopodosis”

We have nothing but respect for cephalopods in ESCONI, but this is a rather odd poem called “Cephalopodosis” from B. J. Babbitt. This poem appeared in the June 1950 edition of the ESCONI newsletter. Babbitt was the editor of the newsletter at the time. And, he remained editor for ESCONI’s first three years.

Calendar of Events

2026 ESCONI Rock, Mineral and Fossil Swap and Sale – August 15, 2026 at College of DuPage

ESCONI is sponsoring a rock swap and sale event on August 15, 2026 at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. The location is Parking Lot 4, south of the Health and Science Building, and adjacent to the prairie.

Around the Web

After 35 Years, 152-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur ‘Big Al’ Returns Home To Wyoming

Cowboy State Daily has a story about “Big Al” the Allosaurus… He is headed home! “Al”, the star of the 2000 BBC documentary “Walking with Dinosaurs”, was found near Shell, WY in 1990. He lived about 152 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. A 2002 paper, “Record-Breaking Pain: The Largest Number and Variety of Forelimb Bone Maladies in a Theropod Dinosaur”, documented 19 distinct injuries and diseases preserved in “Big Al’s” fossils. The injuries included several fractured ribs, a torn up hand, and a massive bone infection in his right middle toe bone.

Field Trips, Mazon Creek, Mazon Monday

Mazon Monday #329: Danville Spoil Pile May 2026

Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 was a fairly nice day. It was partly cloudy with some wind. It was a little cooler than previous trips.

Around the Web

PBS Eons: The Terrifying Reason Flightless Dinosaurs Grew Feathers

PBS Eons has a new video. This one is about the evolution of feathers. The question of what non-flying dinosaurs were doing with their feathered wings – and why they originally evolved in the first place – has been a mystery since they were discovered. But thanks to what might just be one of the strangest experiments in the recent history of paleontology – involving a makeshift robot-dino – a new hypothesis has emerged…

Around the Web

The Real Dinosaurs Were MUCH Weirder

In this New Scientist video, David Hone discusses dinosaurs. What were dinosaurs really like?

Fossil Friday, Mazon Creek

Fossil Friday #323: Laveineopteris rarinervis from the Mazon River

This is the “Fossil Friday” post #323. 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! Marie Angkuw sent us these photos of a gorgeous Laveineopteris rarinervis from the Mazon River. Laveineopteris rarinervis, a seed fern, is pretty commonly found in Mazon Creek localities (see Mazon Monday #81). This specimen was collected from one of the I&M Canal Corridor benefits on the Kodat farm. The concretion opened via the freeze/thaw…

Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday #323: June 30, 1956 Mid-Air Collision Over the Grand Canyon

Newspapers.com recently featured an interesting article about the tragic mid-air collision over the Grand Canyon on June 30, 1956. TWA Flight 2, a Lockheed Super Constellation en route to Kansas City, collided with United Flight 718, a DC-7 bound for Chicago. Both aircraft had departed from Los Angeles, and the collision is believed to have occurred at an altitude of about 21,000 feet.

Calendar of Events, ESCONI Videos

Video for ESCONI June 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting – “Factors controlling the distribution of Late Ordovician – Silurian crinoids.”

The ESCONI June 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting was held on Saturday, June 20th, 2026 at 7:30 PM via Zoom. Lincoln Shoemaker presented “Factors controlling the distribution of Late Ordovician – Silurian crinoids.” Lincoln Shoemaker is currently a master’s student at the University of Cincinnati where he is involved in multiple projects regarding the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction along with minor work involving Mississippian crinoids. Prior to pursing a master’s Lincoln worked as a freelance fossil preparator and commercial dealer of invertebrate fossils.

In Memoriam and Honorarium, Mazon Creek, Mazon Monday

Mazon Tuesday #328: The Legacy of Tom Testa

Michele Micetich, curator of the Carbon Hill School Museum, will host a special event on Saturday, June 27, 2026, celebrating the life and legacy of Tom Testa. A lifelong fossil collector with a passion for Mazon Creek fossils, Tom assembled one of the finest private collections of its kind. In 2015, he gave his collection to Jack Wittry, who donated it to the Field Museum, ensuring that it would remain available for scientific study. The remarkable depth and diversity of Tom’s collection has contributed to numerous scientific discoveries, including research highlighted recently in Mazon Monday #327.

Mazon Creek, Mazon Monday

Mazon Monday #327: Direct development of stem tetrapods across the fin-to-limb transition

A significant paper on tetrapod development was published last week, and Mazon Creek fossils played a central role. “Direct Development of Stem Tetrapods Across the Fin-to-Limb Transition” by Jason Pardo and Arjan Mann of the Field Museum appeared in the journal Science. Lauer Foundation for Paleontology, Science, and Education also contributed to the study. The paper presents an important new perspective on the life history of the earliest tetrapods, which are the vertebrates that eventually gave rise to amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Using exceptionally preserved fossils from the Mazon Creek, the authors conclude that these early tetrapods did not…

Calendar of Events

ESCONI at the Coal City Library!

On June 4, ESCONI was at the Coal City Library to kick off summer with exhibits of fossils, geodes, and our popular dig box. Jody Gosain and Jim Bigler presented to over 150 people including 100 children. Interestingly, the library itself has three beautiful collection of Mazon Creek fossils donated by locals over the years. So many residents told stories of relatives having “tullies” , buckets full of concretions collected over the years and asking how to get them to open, and playing along the creek and finding beautiful specimens! Many were surprised to learn just how fortunate they were…

Friday, June 12th	General Meeting – 8:00 PM via Zoom. Adrienne Stroup of The Field Museum will present “At the Intersection of Art and Science: Outreach in Natural History Museums”.
Saturday, June 20th	Paleontology Study Group – 7:30 PM via Zoom. Lincoln Shoemaker will present “Factors controlling the distribution of Late Ordovician – Silurian crinoids.”
No meeting this month	Junior Study Group Meeting
No meeting this month	Mineralogy Study Group

ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show

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