Category: Around the Web
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‘Gus’ the T. rex presented in New York ahead of auction
Phys.org has an article about “Gus” the Tyrannosaurus rex. “Gus” lived during the late Cretaceous Period, about 67 million years ago. The fossil is about 61% complete by bone count and 75-80% by bone mass. It was discovered in Harding County, South Dakota in 2021. “Gus” is named after the late rancher Gary “Gus” Licking,…
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Scientists Discover the First-Ever Molecules Preserved Inside a 113-Million-Year-Old Pterosaur Fossil
SciTechDaily has a story about an exceptionally preserved pterosaur wing from Brazil. The animal lived about 113 million years ago, during the middle Cretaceous Period, in what is now northeastern Brazil. Its wing phalanx, which refers to the individual bone segments which make up the finger skeleton supporting the wing, was preserved in 3 dimensions…
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Inside the making of the world’s most modern natural history museum
National Geographic has an interesting story about the making of the new Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi. The museum opened in late 2025, with beautiful modern exhibits. This is the story of its making…
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After 35 Years, 152-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur ‘Big Al’ Returns Home To Wyoming
Cowboy State Daily has a story about “Big Al” the Allosaurus… He is headed home! “Al”, the star of the 2000 BBC documentary “Walking with Dinosaurs”, was found near Shell, WY in 1990. He lived about 152 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. A 2002 paper, “Record-Breaking Pain: The Largest Number and Variety of…
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PBS Eons: The Terrifying Reason Flightless Dinosaurs Grew Feathers
PBS Eons has a new video. This one is about the evolution of feathers. The question of what non-flying dinosaurs were doing with their feathered wings – and why they originally evolved in the first place – has been a mystery since they were discovered. But thanks to what might just be one of the…
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The Real Dinosaurs Were MUCH Weirder
In this New Scientist video, David Hone discusses dinosaurs. What were dinosaurs really like?
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PBS Eons: Why Humanity Has Amnesia About Giant Sloths
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about human interactions with the giant megafauna of the Pleistocene.
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‘Whoa’: 12-year-old boy finds 80-million-year-old fossil during educational field trip
KCTV 5 has the story of a 12 year old finding some prehistoric treasure. Corbin Bullard, a budding paleontologist, discovered the skull and some vertebrae of an 80 million year old tylosaurus on a 4-H Geology Club field trip to Sedgwick County, Kansas.
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The Field Museum’s Dinopalooza 2026, Saturday, June 13th, 2026
The Field Museum’s annual paleontology extravaganza “Dinopalooza 2026” is today! Come on out and join the fun!
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Protect Yourself from Ticks!
It’s a bad year for ticks, so be very careful out there. Remember, do frequent tick checks and use insect repellent!
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PBS Eons: 100 million years ago, squid suddenly took over the oceans
PBS Eons has a new Youtube Short.
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High-Energy X-Ray CT Scanning of large, dense fossils
Today’s post comes from Ravi Chandran and Tyler Keillor. Ravi Chandran is an ESCONI member and volunteer in Paul Sereno’s lab. Tyler Keiller is Manager of the fossil lab and past ESCONI member. He has presented at Paleofest and for ESCONI in the past. He is also paleo-artist. The Fossil Lab in Washington Park (5437…
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Happy 300th Birthday, James Hutton!
Today marks the 300th Birthday of James Hutton (1726-1797), a Scottish geologist, argiculturist, chemical manufacturer, naturalist, and physician. He is widely considered to be the “Father of Modern Geology”. Hutton was born on June 3rd, 1726 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
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Wait, Is That Poison Ivy?
It’s that time of year again. You’re out working in the garden, or hiking through the woods, looking for fossils (of course!), and there it is… Poison Ivy! The New York Times had an article about poison ivy identification a few weeks ago. Hopefully, it will help you, so you don’t have to endure a…
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PBS Eons: The Second-to-Last Mammoths Ever
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about some of the last Mammoths on Earth.
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Microcoprolite morphotypes from the Revueltian (Upper Triassic:Norian) age Homestead Site, Garita Creek Formation, east-centralNew Mexico, USA
The Lauers are back with more science! The paper “Microcoprolite morphotypes from the Revueltian (Upper Triassic: Norian) age Homestead Site, Garita Creek Formation, east-central New Mexico, USA” was published in the journal Ichnos, which is an international journal for plant and animal traces.
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Sundays on the Boulevard
ESCONI’s mission is to promote interest in the Earth sciences, both through programs and publications aimed at ESCONI members and through events aimed at the larger community, like the ESCONI and CGMA shows. Recently, thanks to the efforts of ESCONI volunteers like Jim Bigler and Jodi Gosain [and others?], we’ve expanded ESCONI’s outreach efforts by…
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Archaeologists Find Egyptian Mummy Buried With the ‘Iliad’
The New York Times has an interesting post about a discovery in Egypt. A 2,000 year old mummy in the burial site known as Oxyrhynchus had a papyrus fragment of the Homeric epic “Iliad” in a clay packet outside its wrappings. The mummy was a non-royal male,
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The Pokémon Fossil Museum at the Field Museum is now Open!
The Pokémon Fossil Museum at the Field Museum opened on Wednesday, May 20th, 2026. Tickets can be purchased here. Tickets are required for entry and should be purchased in advance. Here is the FAQ page.
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Reminder: 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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PBS Eons: The Mystery of the Missing Deep-Sea Fish
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about the evolution of fish.
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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.
