Category: Around the Web
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Introducing Laueropterus!
On his blog “Archosaur Musings”, David Hone has an excellent post about the newly described pterosaur Laueropterus, which was named for the Bruce and Rene’ Lauer of the Lauer Foundation. Bruce and Rene’ are long time ESCONI members. They do extraordinary work in Paleontology, Science, and Education. Their work and accomplishments have been featured many…
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A 75-million-year-old fossil reveals a shocking tyrannosaur secret
Science Daily has a story about the feeding habits of tyrannosaurs. The diet of tyrannosaurs has been long and sometimes controversial, remember when it was proposed that T-rex was a scavenger? Well a new paper in the journal Evolving Earth, found evidence of cannibalism from marks on a massive tyrannosaur foot bone. Interestingly, the marks…
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The Rise of Eyes Began With Just One
Carl Zimmer has an interesting article over at the New York Times. He discusses the evolution of eye… but how many eyes? Some of our early ancestors, about 560 million years ago, might have had only one. During the Cambrian Period, 518 million years ago, some early vertebrates from China may have had two pairs…
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Trilobite Tuesday #50: Penn Dixie: Dig With the Experts 2026 – June 13th and 14th, 2026
The Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Center are holding their annual “Dig With the Experts” event on June 13th and 14th, 2026. Details can be found be found on their website. We’ve featured a few trilobites from Penn Dixie for Fossil Friday. I went there a few years ago and had a great time.…
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Keweenaw Week 2026 – August 2nd – 9th, 2026 in Michigan’s famous Keweenaw Peninsula
The Copper Country Rock and Mineral Club is holding their annual Keweenaw Week for 2026 from August 2nd – 9th, 2026 up in Michigan’s famous Keweenaw Peninsula. Tickets are on sale now on this website. You can find out more on their website at https://ccrmc.info/.
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PBS Eons: How Dinosaurs May Have Cursed Us With Aging
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about how aging in mammals might be due to evolved traits while we lived alongside dinosaurs.
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PBS Eons: When the Earth Had Supermountains
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about some truly giant mountains and the evolutionary changes they drove.
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Science Quickly: The dinosaurs at your window: How birds survived the asteroid that killed all other dinosaurs
Scientific American’s “Science Quickly” had an interview with Steve Brusatte on a recent episode. Steve’s new book “The Story of Birds” is available to day April 28th, 2026.
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Early Triassic Cyclidan Crustacean Had Powerful Jaws
Sci-News has an article about a distinctive, but enigmatic, group of arthropods called Cyclidans. Cyclidans appeared during the Carboniferous and hung around until the Late Cretaceous.
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Science Quickly: The fans who went from collecting Pokémon to studying bugs and fossils
Science American’s “Science Quickly” had a recent episode about the upcoming Pokemon display at the Field Museum. Arjan Mann, Field Museum Curator of Early Tetrapods, was one of the guests.
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The revolution in dinosaur science started 50 years ago—here’s what we have learned
Phys.org has a story about the dinosaur renaissance that started about 50 years ago. Before the research that led to the revolution in dinosaur science, dinosaurs were thought to dumb, slow, lumbering animals that went extinct because mammals were faster and smarter. Bone histology, birds as dinosaurs, feathers, lifespan, diet, and behavior are just a…
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Reminder: MAPS Expo XLVII – April 24-26, 2026 in Springfield, IL
The Mid-America Paleontology Society (MAPS) 2026 Expo XLVII is being held from April 24th to 26th, 2026 at the Joe Orr Building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois. The topic for the show is “Fossil Preparation and Archiving”.
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49th Annual CGMA Show – May 23rd and 24th, 2026
The 49th Annual CGMA Show will be held May 23rd and 24th, 2026 at the Expo Center of the Kane County Fairgrounds.
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Ancient bees found nesting inside fossil bones in rare cave discovery
Science Daily has a post about a recent paper that looked at novel bee nesting behavior. Researchers working on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola discovered a rare and unusual fossil interaction in a cave, ancient bees used fossilized bones as nesting sites.
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PBS Terra: The Cascadia Megaquake Is Inevitable. And It Will Reshape America Forever
PBS Terra has an interesting new video. This one covers the history, science, and future of the Cascadia Subduction Zone in the Pacific Northwest.
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Fossil of Pincer-Wielding Crawler Reveals Origins of Spiders, Scorpions and Others
The Trilobites column over at the New York Times has a interesting story about the origin of chelicerates – spiders, scorpions, mites, horseshoe crabs, and others. Chelicerates are a diverse group of arthropods that consists of more than 120,000 known species. Member of this group are classified by having a pair of appendages called chelicerae.…
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A large tyrannosaurid from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of North America
The journal Nature Scientific Reports has a paper about a new large tyrannosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) in North America. The unnamed animal lived from about 74 to 75 million years ago in what is now New Mexico, USA. Abstract The Tyrannosauridae emerged as the dominant large predators in Laurasia during the Late Cretaceous.…
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MAPS Expo XLVII – April 24-26, 2026 in Springfield, IL
The Mid-America Paleontology Society (MAPS) 2026 Expo XLVII is being held from April 24th to 26th, 2026 at the Joe Orr Building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois. The topic for the show is “Fossil Preparation and Archiving”.
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This crocodile ran like a greyhound across prehistoric Britain 200 million years ago
Science Daily has a story about a newly discovered Triassic reptile from the UK. The animal, Galahadosuchus jonesi, lived about 215 million years in what is now Gloucester, UK. It was probably a fast, land-dwelling predator.
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PBS Eons: Did Ancient Storms Kill These Pterosaurs?
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about the pterosaur diversity of the Solnhofen formation in Germany.
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Des Plaines Valley Geological Society’s 61st Annual Jewelry, Mineral, Gem & Fossil Show, March 28-29, 2026
Des Plaines Valley Geological Society’s 61st Annual Jewelry, Mineral, Gem & Fossil Show, March 28-29, 2026. Des Plaines Park District Leisure Center, 2222 Birch St., Des Plaines, IL. Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4. Adults $3, seniors $2, students over 12 or with school ID $1, children under 12 free when accompanied by an adult. Dealers, demonstrators,…
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PBS Eons: Why Evolution Made Your Teeth Hurt
There’s a new episode of PBS Eons. This one is about the evolution of teeth.
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Reminder: Chicago Rocks & Minerals Society’s Annual Silent Auction, Saturday, March 14, 2026
Chicago Rocks & Minerals Society’s Annual Silent Auction Saturday, March 14, 2026 6 to 9 p.m. St. Peter’s United Church of Christ 8013 Laramie Ave., Skokie, IL (Across the street from the public library on Oakton) Plus a special live auction of high-end specimens during the last half-hour! The first table closes at 6:30 p.m.…
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Ticks, Ticks, Ticks, Ticks, Ticks 2026!
You will probably be getting outside more soon looking for fossils, minerals, etc. in the woods, fields, and quarries. Or at least, that’s what we hope… after all, this is the ESCONI website. And, remember fossil collecting season opens up on March 1st at Mazonia South. However, thanks to our mild winter and that early…
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Paleontologist Dr. Hans-Dieter Sues RIP (1956-2026)
We are sad to hear of the sudden passing of Dr. Hans-Dieter Sues, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Here is the Smithsonian’s announcement on Facebook. It is with profound sadness that we share the news that our friend and colleague Dr. Hans-Dieter Sues, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, unexpectedly…
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New ‘scimitar-crested’ Spinosaurus species discovered in the central Sahara
Phys.org has a story about a new species of spinosaurus. Spinosaurus mirabilis was found in Niger at a remote locale in the central Sahara by a team of 20 researchers led by Paul Sereno, Ph.D., Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago. The animal is described in the paper “Scimitar-crested Spinosaurus species from…
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PBS Eons: 130 Million Years Ago, the World Caught Fire
PBS Eons has a new video. This one is about the evolution of flowering plants. It seems that for flowering plants to take over the world, first they may have had to help burn the old one away…and then put those fires out.
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Des Plaines Valley Geological Society’s 61st Annual Jewelry, Mineral, Gem & Fossil Show, March 28-29, 2026
Des Plaines Valley Geological Society’s 61st Annual Jewelry, Mineral, Gem & Fossil Show, March 28-29, 2026. Des Plaines Park District Leisure Center, 2222 Birch St., Des Plaines, IL. Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4. Adults $3, seniors $2, students over 12 or with school ID $1, children under 12 free when accompanied by an adult. Dealers, demonstrators,…
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Netflix: “The Dinosaurs”… Coming March 6th, 2026
Netflix has a new dinosaur documentary “The Dinosaurs”, which premiers on March 6th, 2026. The trailer is on Youtube. Welcome to The Dinosaurs – an epic journey into a lost world. From executive producer Steven Spielberg, Amblin Entertainment, and the award‑winning team behind Our Planet, this groundbreaking documentary series follows the rise and fall of…
