Month: June 2020
-
Trilobite Tuesday #13: Trilobite Conga Line
Clues to animal behavior are very rare in the fossil record. However, a Moroccan fossil of 22 small trilobites might provide some of the earliest evidence. These trilobites lived about 480 million years ago. And, their lineup might be a display of complex social behavior long before it was expected. The details appear in a…
-
Mazon Monday #14: Essexella asherae
This is Mazon Monday post #14. Essexella asharae is the most common animal fossil you will find in the Mazon Creek biota. In the Essex biota, it has been estimated to be over 40% of finds. Specimens come in many forms with varied preservation. While there was a recent paper about whether it is a…
-
“Enigmatic and Strange” – 300-Million-Year-Old Fish Resembles a Sturgeon, but With Key Differences
SciTechDaily has a piece about an interesting fossil fish. Called Tanyrhinichthys mcallisteri, it lived about 300 million years ago in what is now New Mexico. The new study, published in the journal Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, found the species’ lifestyle was more like bottom-dwelling sturgeon, rather than the stealthy pike, as previously believed. Sturgeon,…
-
PBS Eons: When Dinosaurs Chilled in the Arctic
Check out the new PBS Eons episode over on Youtube. This one is about dinosaurs in the Arctic. All told, the Arctic in the Cretaceous Period was a rough place to live, especially in winter. And yet, the fossils of many kinds of dinosaurs have been discovered there. So how were they able to…
-
ESCONI Field Trip to to Belvidere Quarry – Sunday, July 26, 2020
There will be a field trip to a quarry near Belvidere, Illinois on Sunday, July 26, 2020, from 9AM to 12 noon. The rock is Ordovician, Galena Group. This is a “hard-rock” quarry (dolomite). If you like Hormotoma or Receptaculites, this is the place for you! The quarry has been active so there is…
-
Fossil Friday #12: Ammonites from Kansas
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #10. Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website. We will post any fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! How about some pictures of ammonites from Kansas? …
-
Throwback Thursday #13: Field Museum Photo Archives
This is Throwback Thursday #13. 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! I recently found a Field Museum Tumblr blog called “Field Museum Photo Archives”. It has many great photos…
-
First Soft-Shelled Dinosaur Egg Fossils Found
Smithsonian Magazine has a story about dinosaur eggs. Nature had two articles that found evidence that dinosaur eggs were soft-shelled. The first study found evidence of soft-shelled eggs by analyzing fossilized Protoceratops and Mussaurus egg shells. The evidence suggests eggs similar to those of turtles. The second paper identified an enigmatic fossil, commonly referred to…
-
Trilobite Tuesday #12: Trilobite Fakes
This is Trilobite Tuesday post #12. —————————————- This is a completely faked trilobite assemblage, with all individual trilobites made of resin on an underlying plastic film and all mounted on real limestone matrix; the castings are of: Leonaspis, Walliserops, Crotalocephalus, Paralejurus, and something unidentified on top (left image), and Odontochile, Psychopyge, Phacops and Scutellum (right image). Photography:…
-
Mazon Monday #13: Belotelson magister
This is Mazon Monday post #13. Belotelson magister is the most common crustacean/shrimp fossil in the Mazon Creek biota. They can be found fairly readily and can range from a partial, to a molt, and sometimes even a full body. Most of the shrimps found in Pit 11 are Belotelsons. It was described way back…
-
New Bird-Like Dinosaur Discovered: Overoraptor chimentoi
SciNews has a story about a new bird-like dinosaur. Discovered in Argentina, Overoraptor chimentoi lived about 90 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period, in what is now Patagonia. All the details on this dinosaur can be read in a paper published in the journal Nature. The fossilized remains of Overoraptor chimentoi were recovered from the beds…
-
PBS Eons: The World Before Plate Tectonics
There’s a new episode of PBS Eons. This one is about plate tectonics and how they got started. Ever hear of super continent Nuna? The video of plate movement is very cool! There was a time in Earth’s history that was so stable, geologists once called it the Boring Billion. But the fact is,…
-
Fossil Friday #11: Mazon Creek Ferns
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #10. Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website. We will post any fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! —————————————————– Here are some nice Mazon Creek ferns. …
-
Throwback Thursday #12: George Langford Night, June 13th, 1958
This is Throwback Thursday #12. 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! June 13th, 1958 was George Langford Night. It celebrated the publication of “Fossil Flora and Fauna of the…
-
Reminder: PBS Prehistoric Road Trip
PREHISTORIC ROAD TRIP is a new three-part series exploring prehistoric life across the western United States, premiering Wednesdays starting June 17-July 1 on PBS. Emily Graslie, Chief Curiosity Correspondent for the Field Museum is executive producer, host, and writer for the series, and spent 8 weeks on the road during the summer of 2019 filming at…
-
Trilobite Tuesday #11: Richard Fortey on Palaeocast
If you have most than a passing interest in trilobites, you’ve certainly heard of Richard Fortey. He’s one of the foremost researchers of trilobites in the world. He fell in love with trilobites at age 14. He’s appeared in a bunch of BBC nature programs in recent years and written numerous books on paleontology, including…
-
Mazon Monday #12: Tully: Monster vs Method
This is Mazon Monday post #12. This video by the Field Museum details some of the modern research methods used to study the Tully Monster fossils, and actually many of the other fossils in the FM collection. This research led to the conclusions that you have heard a few years ago… the Tully Monster is…
-
June is Limestone Month in Indiana
June is Limestone Month in Indiana! Who knew? Their Facebook page has a bunch of videos and information. The first event was back in 2009. Read about it here. When you stop and think about it, limestone is the very foundation of Indiana. Not only is it found in most buildings on Indiana University’s campus…
-
The Brain Scoop: Going out on a limb for Quetzalcoatlus
There’s a new episode of “The Brain Scoop”. It was made as part of the new PBS series “Prehistoric Road Trip”. This one is about the giant pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus. Quetzalcoatlus was the largest flying animal of all time. But this extraordinary animal is known from only a handful of bones; a complete skeleton has…
-
Fossil Friday #10: A Mazon Creek Scorpion!
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #10. Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website. We will post any fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! This beauty was contributed by Phil Anderson. …
-
Throwback Thursday #11: Reflections on the Paleontology Group Meeting of 4-18-09
This is Throwback Thursday #11. 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! The following interesting article was written by Andrew Young about a paleontology study group meeting back on April…
-
PBS Eons: When Dinosaur Look-Alikes Ruled the Earth
There’s a new episode of PBS Eons. This one is about the crocodilians that evolved along side the dinosaurs during the Triassic Period. There were a huge number of croc-like animals that flourished during the Triassic Period. Dinosaurs had just arrived on the scene but it was these animals that truly ruled the Earth,…
-
PBS Prehistoric Road Trip
June 17, 2020 is the premier of “Prehistoric Road Trip”, which is a new show on PBS. The host is the Field Museum’s Chief Curiosity Correspondent, Emily Grassley. She is also the host of the Youtube channel “The Brain Scoop”. You can find previews and clips on the official web page. Don’t miss it!…
-
Mazon Monday #11: Mazon Creek Collections Database
This is Mazon Monday post #11. The Illinois State Museum in Springfield, IL has a significant collection of Mazon Creek fossils. Most of the collection stems from a collection donated by George Langford in the 1930s. The Mazon Creek Collections Database is a digitzed resource accessible on the museum’s website. In it, you will find…
-
Remembering Dave Bergmann 1935-2020
Dave Bergmann passed away on April 7, 2020. Dave and his wife, Sheila, have been very active in ESCONI for more than 30 years. They have participated in the ESCONI shows demonstrating their collection of artifacts including fossils and microcrystals (in particular Dave had a powerful large crystal microscope with TV display monitor). Activities extended…
-
Discovery of ancient super-eruptions indicates the Yellowstone hotspot may be waning
From the “Maybe Some Good News Department”, phys.org has an article about the hot spot under Yellowstone National Park. This paper, from the journal Geology, looked at past Yellowstone eruptions of the super volcano to assess trends and found that the interval and the intensity of eruptions have been decreasing. Throughout Earth’s long history, volcanic…
-
Fossil Friday #9: Alethopteris serlii from the Mazon River
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #9. Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website. We will post any fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! Here is a stunning Alethopteris serlii from…
-
Throwback Thursday #10: What Do You Know About Joliet-Lemont Limestone?
This is Throwback Thursday #10. 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! The following is an article written by Joseph Kubal, who was President of ESCONI in 2000, serving in…
-
Ticks, Ticks, Ticks, Ticks, Ticks 2020!
This post is a little late as we are fast approaching the peak of tick season. But, as the weather gets warmer (and hopefully, dryer), you will probably be spending more time outside looking for fossils, minerals, etc. in the woods, fields, and quarries. One creature you may encounter is a tick. Ticks are arthropods,…
-
Trilobite Tuesday #10: Trilobite Spines
The American Museum of Natural History has a great trilobite website with information and pictures that do a thorough job describing trilobites. Today, we are going to highlight the Trilobite Spines page. From the very beginning of their history up to the end, armor was a big component of trilobite anatomy. First, they had a calcium…
