Month: February 2025
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Fossil Friday #254 – Sphenophyllum emarginatum
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #254. 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 hash tag #FossilFriday on Twitter/X and Bluesky for contributions from around the world! —————————————————– Sphenophyllum emarginatum is…
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Throwback Thursday #254: ESCONI Member Demographics in 1959
This is Throwback Thursday #254. 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! email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The Chairman’s Message in the May 1959 edition of the ESCONI newsletter detailed interesting statistics on the…
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2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #8: Thunder Bay Amethyst
This is the preview post #8 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.…
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2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #7: Mississippian Crinoid from Gilmore City, IL
This is the preview post #7 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.…
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Mazon Monday #257: Mazon Creek Fossil Species Named for ESCONI
ESCONI has played a significant role in the study of the Mazon Creek fossil biota. Its members have authored at least nine books on the subject, beginning with George Langford, Sr. in the late 1950s and early 1960s, followed by the ESCONI Keys and Creature Corner books of the 1980s and 1990s, and most recently,…
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Video for ESCONI February 2025 Mineralogy Study Group Meeting – “Thunder Bay Amethyst”
The February 2025 Mineralogy Study Group Meeting was held on February 22nd, 2025. Our speaker was Dan Kile. His topic was “Thunder Bay Amethyst”. Dan Kile has been an ardent field collector of minerals (along with his wife, Dianne) for nearly 54 years, mostly in Colorado. In addition to field collecting activities, he has taught optical mineralogy…
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2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #6: Diplomystus dentatus from the Green River
This is the preview post #6 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.…
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2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #5: Mazonova helmichnus
This is the preview post #5 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.…
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Fossil Friday #253 – Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #253. 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 beautiful…
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Throwback Thursday #253: Field Trip to the Field Museum in February 1971
This is Throwback Thursday #253. 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! email:esconi.info@gmail.com. ESCONI had a field trip to the Field Museum in February 1971. This announcement appeared in the…
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2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #4: Wulfenite from Chihiahua
This is the preview post #4 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.…
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ESCONI February 2025 Mineralogy Study Group Meeting – Saturday, February 22nd, 2025 – “Thunder Bay Amethyst”
The February 2025 Mineralogy Study Group Meeting will be held at 7:30 on February 22nd, 2025. Our speaker is Dan Kile. His topic will be “Thunder Bay Amethyst”. Dan Kile has been an ardent field collector of minerals (along with his wife, Dianne) for nearly 54 years, mostly in Colorado. In addition to field collecting activities, he…
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Mazon Monday #256: Sphenophyllum emarginatum
This is Mazon Monday post #256. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Sphenophyllum emarginatum is a species in the order Sphenophyllales, which is an extinct order of plants that existed from the late Pennsylvanian to the Early Permian. They are a sister taxa to the present day Equisetales (horsetails). The parent…
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Chimaeropsis paradoxa Zittel, 1887 (Myriacanthoidei, Holocephali) from the Late Jurassic of Solnhofen
Bruce and Rene’ Lauer of the Lauer Foundation have co-authored another research paper, with lead author Christopher J. Duffin from the Natural History Museum in London – Department of Earth Sciences as the lead author. The study looked at Chimaeropsis paradoxa which is a holocephalian, a lesser-known group of ancient sharks. The paper was recently…
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PBS Eons: How Mountains Make Evolution Weird
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about how barriers between populations can effect evolution. Mountains have a unique effect on diversity, messing with our understanding of animals through time, and pretty much just making evolution weird. And they would eventually reveal something even stranger about a group of mammals even closer to…
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Fossil Friday #252: Oligocarpia gutbierii
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #252. 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 hash tag #FossilFriday on Twitter/X and Bluesky for contributions from around the world! Oligocarpia gutbierii is a herbaceous…
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Throwback Thursday #252: Field Trip to Thornton Quarry – April 24th, 1955
This is Throwback Thursday #252. 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! email:esconi.info@gmail.com. If you live on the southside of Chicago, you are probably aware of the large holes on…
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2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #3: Native Copper with Calcite!
This is the preview post #3 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.…
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Fossils Preserve Both Skin and Scales from an Ancient Sea Monster
The New York Times’ Trilobites column has news of a breathtaking plesiosaur specimen. The animal lived about 183 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. The fossils were found in the legendary Posidonia Shale of southern Germany and excavated in from a quarry near Holzmaden in 1940. The specimen was prepared in 2020. At that…
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Mazon Monday #255: A Forest of the Coal Age
This is Mazon Monday post #255. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Over the years, the Field Museum published many pamphlets, leaflets, journals, bulletins, etc. There’s a page on the museum website dedicated to sharing that wealth of knowledge. The popular/leaflet series was a series of booklets on popular topics for…
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PBS Terra: What Happened to America’s First Megacity?
PBS Terra is the sister Youtube channel to PBS Eons. In this episode, they discuss Cahokia, the mysterious city in southern Illinois. It rivaled London in size during its height in 1100 CE. Monk's Mound is an earthen pyramid that is larger than the Great Pyramid of Cheops. In its prime, Cahokia was a prosperous…
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PBS Eons: Could You Survive The Messinian Salinity Crisis?
There's a new episode of PBS Eons. This one is about the "Messinian Salinity Crisis", which is the time when the Mediterranean Sea was separated from the Atlantic Ocean. In the Late Miocene Epoch, tectonic forces uplifted the Earth's crust, blocking off the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. A once-thriving marine ecosystem was replaced…
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Fossil Friday #251: A “Museum Quality” Alethopteris serlii
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #251. 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 hash tag #FossilFriday on Twitter/X and Bluesky for contributions from around the world! It’s Fossil Friday, and…
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Throwback Thursday #251: Looking Back At ESCONI For February 2025
This is Throwback Thursday #251. 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! email:esconi.info@gmail.com. 25 Years Ago – February 2000 50 Years Ago – February 1975 70 Years Ago – February…
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2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #2: Tullymonstrum gregarium!
This is the preview post #2 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.…
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Scientists find hidden ‘hotspot’ that helped create the Great Lakes before North America even existed
LiveScience has an interesting story about the origins of the Great Lakes and why they formed in their specific location around 20,000 years ago. A new study published in Geophysical Research Letters suggests that the Cape Verde hotspot, which still exists beneath the island nation in the Central Atlantic Ocean, played a key role in…
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Mazon Monday #254: Pit 11 Concretions
This is Mazon Monday post #254. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. —————————————————– In less than a month, fossil collecting season will begin at the IDNR Mazonia-Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area. Many of you are likely eager to get out there before the vegetation returns and obscures the concretions scattered…
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66-million-year-old vomit fossil discovered in Denmark
NBC News has a story about fossilized vomit. Yes, fossilized vomit, Unlike coprolites, which are fossilized dung, regurgitalites are rare in the fossil record. A danish fossil hunter, Peter Bennicke, found a strange clump of sea lily fragments embedded in chalk. He took it to the Geomuseum Faxe in November 2024, where a museum curator…
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PBS Eons: What Killed These Sleeping Dinosaurs?
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about the fossils of Liaoning in northwestern China… amazingly, beautifully preserved dinosaurs that give us insight into dinosaur and bird evolution. Since the 1990s, paleontologists have been pulling 125-million-year-old complete dinosaur skeletons from the rocks of the Lujiatun in Northwestern China, most seemingly posed in perfect…
