This is Mazon Monday post #176.  What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com.

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Today’s post is an update to Mazon Monday #172, which was entitled “Fossil Insect Symposium 1990”.  Long time ESCONI member Marty Houdek read that post and sent us some information about the event, because he was there!  Actually, he’s in the last photo framed in the window, wearing the flannel shirt.  

I was at this symposium. I was the last person to have their fossils examined, and in picture number 7 that Tom took, I am the person standing in the middle of the back window.  Jarmila borrowed several of my insects, and I have enclosed photos, sketches, and correspondence for two of them. Robin and Jarmila wanted to go fossil hunting at the end of the symposium. We all drove out to the hills on 5000N across from Monster Lake, but it was late in the afternoon and nobody was dressed for a fossil hunt. We did not spend a lot of time there.

I went digging through Tom Testa’s photos and found him in some of the others.   Here they are out in Pit 11 at one of the hills referred to as Insect Hill.

Marty sent some other photos with drawings of two awesome insect fossils.

Jarmilla sent him this charming letter.   Seems the insect pictured above is an unidentified species.  Wow!  I love her closing paragraph…. “Be in touch and, please, try for more fossil insects.” Is there some sort of extra effort we can exert to find more of these? I mean like… who’s not trying?!? I’m always trying and I bet you are too!

Thanks for the contribution, Marty!  If anyone else has material we’d find interesting, please sent it along to email:esconi.info@gmail.com.  The Tom Testa photos come courtesy of Michele Micetich at the Carbon Hill School Museum.