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Mazon Monday #344: Recap for Mazon Creek Fossil Day 2026
Read more: Mazon Monday #344: Recap for Mazon Creek Fossil Day 2026Mazon Creek Fossil Day 2026 at the Coal City Public Library was a huge success! We had a great turnout and some wonderful fossil displays. Many attendees brought fossils of their own, either to have them identified or simply to share their finds with fellow fossil enthusiasts.
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This surprising mammal fossil is giving scientists something to chew on
Read more: This surprising mammal fossil is giving scientists something to chew onNPR has a story about a new Jurassic mammal from China. The animal, Megacauda sungei , was described recently in the journal Nature. The fossil remains are incredibly detailed and show an animal capable of chewing and swallowing its food and suckling, traits shared by all mammals. The fossil was about the size of a chihuahua, but somewhat hard to discern from the rock surrounding it. “The fossil itself is actually very dark,” explains Luo. “The bones are black, the slab [is] dark. And it’s kind of difficult to have beautiful photographs.” One of his collaborators, Chang-Fu Zhou of Shandong University…
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Northwest Illinois Rock Club’s 2026 Annual Rock Show – November 14th and 15th, 2026
Read more: Northwest Illinois Rock Club’s 2026 Annual Rock Show – November 14th and 15th, 2026The Northwest Illinois Rock Club’s Annual Rock Show will be November 14th and 15th, 2026 in Freeport, IL. Find out more on their website at nwilrockclubfrpt.blogspot.com.
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Fossil Friday #338: Braceville Surprise!
Read more: Fossil Friday #338: Braceville Surprise!Jeff Allen recently sent us photos of a fossil he found at Braceville. The specimen is Stigmaria, the underground rooting structure associated with arborescent lycophytes such as Sigillaria and Lepidodendron.
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Throwback Thursday #338: A Very Special Book
Read more: Throwback Thursday #338: A Very Special BookRecently, Matt Brown, McCarter Collections Manager, Fossil Vertebrates at the Field Museum, showed me a book that is special on several levels.
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Palaeocast Episodes 175/176: Insect Gigantism
Read more: Palaeocast Episodes 175/176: Insect GigantismWe haven’t posted about Palaeocast in a little while. Recently, David Marshall posted two episodes about “Insect Gigantism.” These podcasts feature an interview with insect physiologist Prof. Jon Harrison from Arizona State University. Harrison discusses new theories on why insects were so large during the Carboniferous… it may not have been the higher concentration of Oxygen. The Carboniferous period is host to some of the largest arthropods to have ever lived. Giant taxa such as the griffenfly Meganuera and the millipede Arthropleura are almost talismanic and are often depicted in reconstructions of the period. Since many other groups also have…
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ESCONI October 2026 General Meeting, Friday, October 9th, 2026 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – Lazaro Vinola from the Field Museum Presenting Live from the Dominican Republic
Read more: ESCONI October 2026 General Meeting, Friday, October 9th, 2026 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – Lazaro Vinola from the Field Museum Presenting Live from the Dominican RepublicFor the October General Meeting, we are doing something new. Lazaro Vinola from The Field Museum will be presenting live from the field in the Dominican Republic. Earlier this year, you may recall Lazaro found a Tully Monster on his first visit to Pit 11. We used the fossil for Fossil Friday #319. For this meeting, Lazaro’s team will be processing sediment for microfossils. During the first half of the trip, they will stay at a small motel in the town of Oviedo, in the town of Pedernales. Members will have a chance to ask questions about field work… the…
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Mazon Monday #343: 1990 Mazon Creek Open House
Read more: Mazon Monday #343: 1990 Mazon Creek Open HouseThe Mazon Creek Open House was first held in early 1984. It was an extension of the Mazon Creek Project at Northeastern Illinois University. Both the Mazon Creek Project (see Mazon Monday #5) were sponsored by Northeastern Illinois University.
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Found On Newcastle Ranch, ‘Rex Jr.’ Could Be Most Important T. Rex Ever Discovered
Read more: Found On Newcastle Ranch, ‘Rex Jr.’ Could Be Most Important T. Rex Ever DiscoveredCowboy State Daily has a story about “Rex Junior.” First discovered in the 1950’s on a ranch near Newcastle, Wyoming, a partial skeleton of a sub-adult T. rex may be the most important T. rex that has or will ever be found. That is the opinion of paleontologist Paul Sereno. Sereno said “this specimen from the newly discovered mummy zone will redefine what we know about T. rex, inside and out.” Sereno encountered Rex Junior at the top of a hill near Newcastle in the 1990s. It eroded out of the Lance Formation, a 67-million-year-old layer of rock dating to…
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Sternberg Museum in Hays to close by year’s end
Read more: Sternberg Museum in Hays to close by year’s endMore horrible museum news… this time the Sternberg Museum in Hays, Kansas. See the story at KWCH News 12. The fundraising campaign started by the Fort Hays State University Foundation can be found here. HAYS, Kan. (KWCH) – The Sternberg Museum in Hays will be closing before the end of the year. The President of Fort Hays State University, Tisa Mason, shared a statement with the school sharing details on the decision to close the historic museum. The statement shares that the public-facing operations of the Sternberg Museum will close on Dec. 18 as part of the university’s Strategic Budget…
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Fossil Friday #337: A Different View of Lepidostrobus
Read more: Fossil Friday #337: A Different View of LepidostrobusLepidostrobus is a cone from lepidodendron tree. It was named in 1828 by Adolphe-Theodore Brongniart (1801 – 1876), who was a French paleontologist, considered by many to be the father of paleobotany. He also named Lepidostrobophyllum which are the individual cone bracts of which Lepidostrobus is the whole reproductive organ. See Mazon Monday #202.
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ESCONI Events for October 2026
Read more: ESCONI Events for October 2026Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings! Friday, October 9th General Meeting – 8:00 PM via Zoom. Lazaro Vinola from The Field Museum will be presenting live from the field in the Dominican Republic. Saturday, October 10th Junior Study Group Meeting – 2:00 PM at College of DuPage, TEC, Room 1038A Earthquakes! Junior members will watch videos about earthquakes, make seismographs and test them. Specifics of this meeting are available from Scott Galloway, 630-670-2591, gallowayscottf@gmail.com. Saturday, October 10th Mazon Creek Fossil Day Details are here. Saturday, October 17th Field Trip to Danville for Carboniferous Fossils Details…
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Throwback Thursday #337: Looking Back At ESCONI for October 2026
Read more: Throwback Thursday #337: Looking Back At ESCONI for October 2026ESCONI highlights from 25, 50, and 70 years ago
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Reminder: Mazon Creek Fossil Day 2026 – Saturday, October 10th, 2026 – Coal City Library
Read more: Reminder: Mazon Creek Fossil Day 2026 – Saturday, October 10th, 2026 – Coal City LibraryThe 2026 Mazon Creek Fossil Day will be held on Saturday, October 10th, 2026 at the Coal City Library from 10 AM to 3 PM. See you there! Previous events
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T. Rex, King of the Dinosaurs, Had a Body Temperature of 97 Degrees
Read more: T. Rex, King of the Dinosaurs, Had a Body Temperature of 97 DegreesThe New York Times has a story about recent T. rex research. There’s been a long running debate about whether dinosaurs were warm or cold blooded – endothermic or exothermic. New research, published recently in the journal Science Advances, adds a little evidence to the warm blooded side. Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, used a geochemistry techniques on fossilized teeth, including two from “Thomas”, a T. rex at the National History Museum of Los Angeles County. They looked at carbon and oxygen bonds in a the T. rex teeth. Bonds of the heavier isotopes act as a…
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Mazon Monday #342: Jeanerpeton mazonensis – A new Mazon Creek tetrapod!
Read more: Mazon Monday #342: Jeanerpeton mazonensis – A new Mazon Creek tetrapod!The Mazon Creek fossil biota has a new member… a tetrapod, which are quite rare. Jeanerpeton mazonensis, which means “Jean’s crawler from Mazon Creek”, was named by two student-scientists from the Field Museum. The name honors their mothers, who are both named Jean.
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A strange circle on satellite maps turned out to be a 390-million-year-old impact crater
Read more: A strange circle on satellite maps turned out to be a 390-million-year-old impact craterScience Daily has a story about a recently discovered impact crater. The crater was hidden in the Quebec wilderness near Lake Marsal in eastern Quebec. The impact that formed the crater dates to about 390 million years ago during the Devonian Period. It was found by an amateur astronomer, who noticed the structure while planning a camping trip in 2024. In 2024, Joël Lapointe was preparing for a trip to the remote Côte-Nord region when a circular feature near Lake Marsal caught his attention on online satellite imagery. He wondered whether the depression could have been formed by an impact…
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A Feather Found in Dinosaur Poop Might Explain How Birds Beat Extinction
Read more: A Feather Found in Dinosaur Poop Might Explain How Birds Beat ExtinctionThe New York Times has a story about an amazing, chance discovery. In 2016, a researcher in the Hell Creek Formation in Montana picked up a small rock that turned out to be a small piece of fossilized dinosaur dung. Fossilized dung is called a coprolite and this one had a “big” surprise. It had broke in half and revealed a tiny, well-preserved feather alongside fragments of avian bones. This was likely the leftovers from a bird’s final meal before being eaten. An extremely well-preserved bird feather from the age of dinosaurs has been found inside a fossilized piece of…
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Fossil Friday #336: Shark Egg Case from Chowder Flats
Read more: Fossil Friday #336: Shark Egg Case from Chowder FlatsHere’s a beautiful Palaeoxyris prendeli from Chowder Flats. It’s a shark egg case thought to have been produced by hybodont sharks. P. prendeli was named by Leo Lesquereux in 1870. At that time, it was believed to be a plant part, maybe a seed pod. The name palaeoxyris comes from the the flowering plant genus Xyris, which grows in swampy environments in the tropics and subtropics. There are a number of species found in India. There, they are commonly known as yellow-eyed grasses and are characterized by their grass-like leaves and yellow iris-like flowers.
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Throwback Thursday #336: Vacation Trip to Oregon
Read more: Throwback Thursday #336: Vacation Trip to OregonThe October 1959 edition of the ESCONI newsletter included this little burb from the newsletter editor, George Darrow, about his vacation to Oregon during the summer of 1959.
Mazon Creek Fossil Day – October 10th, 2026!
Most Recent Post
- Mazon Monday #344: Recap for Mazon Creek Fossil Day 2026
Mazon Creek Fossil Day 2026 at the Coal City Public Library was a huge success! We had a great turnout and some wonderful fossil displays. Many attendees brought fossils of their own, either to have them identified or simply to share their finds with fellow fossil enthusiasts.
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Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings!
| Friday, October 9th | General Meeting – 8:00 PM via Zoom. Lazaro Vinola from The Field Museum will be presenting live from the field in the Dominican Republic. |
| Saturday, October 10th | Junior Study Group Meeting – 2:00 PM at College of DuPage, TEC, Room 1038A Earthquakes! Junior members will watch videos about earthquakes, make seismographs and test them. Specifics of this meeting are available from Scott Galloway, 630-670-2591, gallowayscottf@gmail.com. |
| Saturday, October 10th | Mazon Creek Fossil Day Details are here. |
| Saturday, October 17th | Field Trip to Danville for Carboniferous Fossils Details are here. |
| Saturday, October 17th | Paleontology Study Group – 7:30 PM via Zoom Enrique Clark will be presenting “Depositional and Lithostratigraphic Characterization of the Lower Maysvillian Calloway Creek Formation.” |
| No meeting this month | Mineralogy Study Group |