Month: June 2021
-
Photos from the ESCONI Field Trip to Belvidere Quarry – June 26th, 2021
ESCONI held a field trip to a Belvidere, IL quarry on June 26th, 2021. Some of the finds were Hormotoma snails, nautiloids, and trilobites. Here are some photos from ESCONI member Therese Cushing. Thanks, Therese!
-
Paleonursery offers rare, detailed glimpse at life 518 million years ago
Phys.org has a story about a newly discovered fossil Lagerstatte. A paper published in Nature details the new deposit, which is located near Kunming, China. It dates to the middle Cambrian about 518 million years ago, which is same age as the Chengjiang locality. For reference, the Burgess Shale dates to about 508 million years…
-
Mazon Monday #66: Video for June 2021 Paleontology Meeting – “Collecting Mazon Creek Fossils”
This is Mazon Monday post #66. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The topic of our Paleontology Study Group meeting was “Collecting Mazon Creek Fossils”. It was presented by ESCONI President Keith Robitschek. The presentation included State Park Links, Maps, Surface Collecting Concretions, Concretion Storage, Opening, Cleaning, and Care.
-
Answers for the TBT #64: A Rockhound Spelling Test from November 1962
Here are the answers to Throwback Thursday #64 Rockhound Spelling Test. How’d you do? QUIZ ANSWERS There were 20 words offered. If you spelled 15 right you are doing right well. Seventeen right puts you in the professional class, and 19 or 20 right means you can sit right next to Mr. Dana and you…
-
ESCONI Events July 2021
Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings! Mon, July 12th ESCONI Junior Field Trip to a Dave's "Down to Earth" Rock Shop in Evanston, IL 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM – Details are here. Sat, July 17th ESCONI Field Trip to Rockford, IL Gravel Pit 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM –…
-
Exciting Paleontological Discoveries You Probably Missed in May
Medium has a story with a nice summary of important paleontological discoveries in May 2021. Several fascinating paleontological discoveries are taking place each month. Scientists working in the field publish numerous studies, describe new prehistoric species, and propose exciting theories about the biology and behavior of many extinct animals. This article will do a quick…
-
Roadtrippers: Kansas is a fossil hunter’s paradise—here’s how and where to explore it
Roadtripper’s magazine has a story about fossil hunting in Kansas. The article is a good summary of general areas. It mentions the Niobrara Chalk of western Kansas. This formation was laid down by the Western Interior Seaway (WIP), which covered the central US and extended from the Gulf of Mezico to the Arctic, during the…
-
Fossil Friday #62: Trigonocarpus sp. – A Seed from Mazon Creek
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #62. 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 week we have a very special…
-
Throwback Thursday #64: A Rockhound Spelling Test From November 1962
This is Throwback Thursday #64. 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! How about a spelling test this week… a rockhound spelling test? This spelling test appeared in the November…
-
Virtual: Dinosaurs of the West, with J.P. Cavigelli, Paleontologist, Thursday, July 15th, 2021
The Woodridge Public Library is have a lecture via Zoom on Thursday, July 15th, 2021. The topic is “Dinosaurs of the West” with J.P. Cavigelli, Paleontologist. Here is the annoucement… sounds very interesting! Register on their website at https://www.woodridgelibrary.org/virtual-dinosaurs-west-jp-cavigelli-paleontologist. Virtual: Dinosaurs of the West, with J.P. Cavigelli, Paleontologist Are you fascinated by the dinosaurs of…
-
Report: ESCONI Field Trip to Danville Shale Pile Fossils – Saturday, June 5th, 2021
Here is a report about the Danville Shale Pile field trip on Saturday, June 5th, 2021. Danville, Illinois, ESCONI Field Trip – June 5, 2021 The weather was warm and partly cloudy Saturday, June 5th, at the new Danville spoil pile. By midday, the temperature would reach into the 90s. Keith Robitschek started the event…
-
Mazon Monday #65: Palaeocaris typus
This is Mazon Monday post #65. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Another shrimp is up for this week’s Mazon Monday. We have Palaeocaris typus. P. typus was described way back in 1865 by Meek and Worthen. Fielding Bradford Meek (1817 – 1876) was an American geologist and paleontologist, who…
-
Phys.org: When tyrannosaurs dominated, medium-sized predators disappeared
Phys.org has a story about tyrannosaurs… seems they didn’t share much. A new study published in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences found that tyrannosaur juveniles out competed medium sized carnivores wherever their adults rose to dominance. The research conducted by Thomas Holtz, a principal lecturer in the University of Maryland’s Department of Geology, verified…
-
A Mysterious Crater’s Age May Add Clues to the Dinosaur Extinction
The New York Times Trilobites column has a story about a mysterious crater in Ukraine. Scientists have long questioned when the 15 mile wide Boltysh crater was formed, either before or after the Chicxulub crater in the Yucatan Peninsula, which caused the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period. A…
-
Fossil Friday #61: Calamostachys sp. from the Danville Spoil Pile
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #61. 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! The field trip to the Danville area…
-
ESCONI Field Trip to Rockford-area Gravel Pit, Saturday, July 17th, 2021
There will be a field trip to a gravel pit in the Rockford area on July 17th, 2021. This is the same location that has been visited before. Because this is a shared trip with the Rockford club (RRVGMS) there is space for 15 ESCONI members. The trip will be from 9 AM to 12…
-
Throwback Thursday #63: Field Trip to Lone Star Quarry on April 7th, 2002
This is Throwback Thursday #63. 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! In April 2002, ESCONI had a field trip to Lone Star Quarry near Oglesby, IL. It looks like…
-
See Inside the American Museum of Natural History’s New Hall of Gems
Artnet has a story about a the AMNH’s new Hall of Gems. The new hall has been dedicated to “Nature’s Art”. The Artnet article is interesting with both pictures and descriptions. If you’re in NY, don’t miss this new exhibit. Four years ago, the Halls of Gems and Minerals at New York’s American Museum of Natural History closed for long-overdue renovations. The…
-
Mazon Monday #64: Essoidea epiceron
This is Mazon Monday post #64. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. For Mazon Monday this week, we have a small filter feeding shrimp, which is one of the smallest known from the Mazon Creek fossil biota, Essoidea epiceron, was described in 1974 by Dr. Frederick Schram, who has described many…
-
Cretaceous Dinosaurs Lived in Warm and Variable Greenhouse Climate, Study
SciNews has a piece about the climate during the end of the Cretaceous Period. Researchers looked at various data, including oyster and rudist shells, to reconstruct a picture of the paleo climate during the Campanian (late Cretaceous Period) about 78 million years ago in what is now modern day Sweden. They found that the climate…
-
Puzzling Extinction Event Decimated Sharks 19 Million Years Ago
SciTechDaily has an article about a shark extinction, which took place about 19 million years ago during the early Miocene. A new study published in the journal Science looked at shark diversity over the last 40 million years and found an extinction event that reduced shark diversity by about 90%. In a related Perspective…
-
Fossil Friday #60: Calymene celebra
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #60. 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 week, we have a trilobite for…
-
Throwback Thursday #62: ESCONI Flea Market 10-02-1999
This is Throwback Thursday #62. 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! For a long time, ESCONI has held the Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show each spring in March. Quite…
-
ESCONI June 2021 General Meeting – June 11th, 2021 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – “The Glasford Structure: A Marine Target Impact Crater with a Possible Connection to the Great Ordovician Meteorite Shower”
The speaker at our June 2021 meeting will be Charles Monson from ISGS. Charles recently published on the Glasford Illinois impact structure and its relation to the Ordovician meteor event. WCBU, a joint service of Bradley University and Illinois State University, interviewed Charles back in November 2019. Their program is online and available for listening. …
-
ESCONI July 2021 Junior Field Trip – Dave’s Down to Earth Rock Shop July 12th, 2021 10 AM
Hello juniors families, I am planning a field trip, for juniors families only, on July 12th. To start the morning out we will meet at a Home Depot in Evanston, IL at 10:00. There we will have a scavenger hunt to determine what items, for sale in the store, are made of rocks and…
-
NYT: New Dinosaur Species Is Australia’s Largest, Researchers Say
The New York Times has a story about a new dinosaur… from Australia. Australotitan cooperensis is a titanosaur, which is a type of sauropod. It weighted about 70 tons and lived about 90 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. It’s the largest dinosaur known from Australia. The dinosaur was described in a paper in…
-
Mazon Monday #63: Braceville Field Trip Report
This is Mazon Monday post #63. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. This spring’s field trip to the Braceville spoil pile started as a cool, cloudy day with a chance of rain. 45 members chanced the weather to collect Mazon Creek fossil concretions. Around 10:30, a steady, but light, drizzle fell…
-
Juvenile Tyrannosaurs Had Powerful Bite, New Study Shows
SciNews has a story about Tyrannosaurus rex. A recent study looked the bite force of juvenile T. rex and found they had a bite force somewhere between modern hyenas and crocodiles at about 5,641 newtons. Humans deliver a force less than 1/10 at around 300 newtons. Details of the story can be found in a…
-
PBS Eons: Where Are All The Squid Fossils?
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about squids and discusses taphonomy and what happened to their missing fossils. Check out Otherwords, a new show about language & linguistics! https://youtu.be/d2UccTPnl4w It might surprise you but cephalopods have a pretty good fossil record, with one major exception. If squids were swimming around in…
