Category: ESCONI Videos
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Video for ESCONI January 2026 Paleontology Meeting – “Getting Lost Can Lead to Treasure – Edrioasteroids”
Jack Kallmeyer President of the Dry Dredgers will present “Getting Lost Can Lead to Treasure – Edrioasteroids – What to Do When You Find Thousands”. The meeting was held on January 17th, 2026 at 7:30 PM. While growing my early collection in the Cincinnatian, one of the most desired fossils that I sought after was…
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Video for ESCONI January 2026 General Meeting – “Fossil Birds of Wyoming”
Jean-Pierre Cavigelli, of Casper College in Casper, WY, presented “Fossil Birds of Wyoming”. Wyoming’s fossil bird record spans much of the Late Cretaceous through the Cenozoic, though its completeness varies widely through time. The state’s oldest known bird fossils come from the late Cretaceous Mesa Verde Formation and Pierre Shale, dating to about 79 million…
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Video for ESCONI December 2025 General Meeting – “Fossils of the Comanche National Grasslands located in southeastern Colorado”
The ESCONI December 2025 General Meeting was held on December 12th, 2025 at 8:00 PM via Zoom. The presenter was Steve Miller of the Western Interior Paleontological Society (WIPS). His topic is “Fossils of the Comanche National Grasslands located in southeastern Colorado”. Fossils of the Comanche National Grasslands located in southeastern Colorado The area offers…
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Video for ESCONI November 2025 Paleontology Study Group Meeting – “Gonioceras: A Most Unusual Cephalopod”
The November 2025 Paleontology Study Group Meeting was held on November 15th, 2025 via Zoom. John Catalani presented “Gonioceras: A Most Unusual Cephalopod”. The diversity of nautiloid shell shapes in the Upper Ordovician of central Laurentia is remarkable. However, one shape is often missing from lists of shell shapes and that is the so-called “flat-fish”…
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Video for ESCONI November 2025 General Meeting – “Mammals of Illinois’ Ice Ages”
The November 2025 General Meeting was held on Friday, November 14th, 2025 via Zoom. Melissa Pardi, Curator of Geology at the Illinois State Museum, presented “Mammals of Illinois’ Ice Ages”. Did you know that Illinois used to have elephants? During the last ice age, North America was home to a wide variety of large, now…
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Video for ESCONI October 2025 Paleontology Study Group Meeting – “Creating 3D Digital Models for Paleontology”
The October 2025 Paleontology Study Group Meeting will be held on October 18th, 2025 at 7:30 via Zoom. The topic is “Creating 3D Digital Models for Paleontology”. It will be presented byShellie Luallin. Shellie Luallin will be presenting “Creating 3D Digital Models for Paleontology”. 3D models increasingly appear in the digital realm – in TV…
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Video for ESCONI October 2025 General Meeting – “Great Zimbabwe among its peers: Exploring the height of ancient civilizations in southern Africa”
The October 2025 General Meeting was held on Friday, October 10th, 2025 at 8:00 via Zoom. Foreman Bandama with the Field Museum presented on African archaeology and anthropology. His presentation is titled “Great Zimbabwe among its peers: Exploring the height of ancient civilizations in southern Africa” There are over twenty-five great African civilizations, besides Egypt.…
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Video for ESCONI September 2025 General Meeting – “Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site”
ESCONI General Meeting – Dr. Angela Cooper presented “Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.” Dr. Angela Cooper is originally from Mascoutah, IL and grew up learning about the great site of Cahokia Mounds. Her educational and professional career has centered around Illinois archaeology. Dr. Cooper received her MA from University of Tulsa studying the relationships of…
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Mazon Monday #276: Video for Cal So’s “Taxonomic diversity and development of Late Carboniferous amphibamiforms from the Mazon Creek Lagerstätte”
This is Mazon Monday post #276. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Cal So, Postdoctoral Scientist in the Research & Collections Department of The Field Museum, Chicago, gave us an informative presentation in June 2025. The title of his presentation was “Taxonomic diversity and development of Late Carboniferous amphibamiforms from the…
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Video for ESCONI June 2025 General Meeting – “New discoveries in Inner Space Cavern reveal the animals of Ice Age Texas”
The June 2025 General Meeting was held on June 13th, 2025 via Zoom. Our speaker was John A. Moretti of the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. His topic was “New discoveries in Inner Space Cavern reveal the animals of Ice Age Texas“. Summary from John Moretti New discoveries in…
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Video for ESCONI Paleontology Meeting May 2025 – “Platteville Oncocerid Nautiloids: Living on the Mohawkian Sea Floor”
Topic: Platteville Oncocerid Nautiloids: Living on the Mohawkian Sea FloorPresenter: John Catalani Although many Ordovician nautiloid faunas are dominated by straight-shelled orthoconic forms, this is not true for the incredibly abundant and diverse Platteville fauna. The Platteville nautiloid fauna consists of 9+ Orders with the Oncocerida accounting for 50+% of the published species. I will…
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Video for ESCONI Paleontology Meeting April 2025 – “A New Cincinnatian Crinoid Species: Discovery, Research, Publication and Working with the Pros”
The April 2025 Paleontology Group Meeting was held on April 19th, 2025. It was a Zoom presentation by Jack Kallmeyer titled “A New Cincinnatian Crinoid Species: Discovery, Research, Publication and Working with the Pros”. Jack’s program will not be a tedious review of the features of the new species of crinoid that he discovered. Rather,…
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Video for ESCONI General Meeting April 2025 – “Geological Framework of Indiana”
The April 2025 General Meeting was held via Zoom on April 11th, 2025. Our speaker was Todd Thompson. Todd is the Director and State Geologist of Indiana. His presentation will give an overview of the geology of Indiana, focusing on structures, stratigraphy, and paleogeography through time.
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Video for ESCONI February 2025 Paleontology Study Group Meeting – “How to Explore the Incredible World of Microfossils”
The February 2025 Paleontology Study Group Meeting was held on February 15th, 2025. Our speaker was Katherine Howard. Her title of her persentation was “How to Explore the Incredible World of Microfossils”. This presentation is geared for anyone who is interested in pursuing microfossils. Prepare to be amazed at the plethora of microfossils that can be…
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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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Video for ESCONI January 2025 Mineralogy Study Group Meeting – “Kentucky Agate”
The January Mineralogy Study Group Meeting was held on Saturday, January 4th, 2025. The topic was “Kentucky Agate”. The presenter was Matthew Bentley, who is the Geologist for the State of Kentucky. Matthew attended Morehead State University and Western Kentucky University. He has been collecting Kentucky Agates for the past 10 years. Kentucky Agate is…
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Video for ESCONI Paleontology Meeting November 2024 – “Devonian Fossils from Independence”
The ESCONI Paleontology Study Group Meeting for November 2024 featured an interesting presentation by Jim Preslicka. His presentation was titled “Devonian Fossils From Independence”. Jim has a deep interest in cephalopods. The eastern Iowan deposit was discovered by the Blackhawk Gem and Mineral Society in 2007. A joint project between the BHGMS and the University…
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Video for ESCONI General Meeting November 2024 – “From Muldraugh to Museum: Amphoracrinus tenax”
The topic of the November 2024 Paleontology meeting was “From Muldraugh to Museum: The Unexpected Journey of Crinoid Amphoracrinus tenax“. It was presented by ESCONI member Gretel Monreal. This presentation will include the investigative process for recognizing a new species of crinoid and explaining what this simple fossil can tell us. Amphoracrinus tenax was described…
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Video for ESCONI June 2024 General Meeting – “A North American fossil primate called Ekgmowechashala”
The June 2024 General Meeting was held on June 14th, 2024 via Zoom. Kathleen Rust of the University of Kansas spoke about Ekgmowechashala, a primate known only from the late early Oligocene of western North America. “I am planning on presenting findings from my most recent publication describing a new primate species from the late…
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Video for ESCONI May 2024 Paleontology Meeting – “The Upper Ordovician Platteville Formation”
The May 2024 Paleontology Study Group meeting was held on Saturday, May 18th, 2024. John Catalani did a presentation about the Upper Ordovician Platteville Formation here in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. He details the name changes how it relates to the surrounding area.
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Video for ESCONI April 2024 Paleontology Meeting – “Terror Birds”
The April 2024 was held on April 20th, 2024 at 7:30 via Zoom. The presenter was ESCONI member John Catalani. Abstract We begin with an explanation of the “Terror Birds” and their position in Geologic Time. The two major groups of these large cursorial birds are the Phorusrhacidae and the Gastornithidae. The first group was…
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Video for ESCONI April 2024 General Meeting – “Ice age mammals from the frozen North”
The ESCONI General Meeting for April 2024 was held on Friday, April 12th, 2024 at 8:00 PM zia Zoom. The topic of the presentation is “Ice age mammals from the frozen North“. It was given by Yukon Paleontologist Grant Zazula. Ever since the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898, Yukon miners in search of shiny gold nuggets…
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Video for ESCONI February 2024 – General Meeting, Topic: “Photographing Rock Art in Illinois and Missouri: A visual journey into the sacred, the unknown, and the creation of the universe”
The ESCONI February 2024 General Meeting was held on Friday, February 9th, 2024. The topic was “Photographing Rock Art in Illinois and Missouri: A visual journey into the sacred, the unknown, and the creation of the universe”. It was presented by Mike Chervinko. Mike is author of “Prehistoric and Natural Wonders of Southern Illinois”. The…
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Video for ESCONI December 2023 General Meeting – “Ancient Forest Pests: Plant-Insect Interactions in the Fossil Record”
The December 8, 2023 General Meeting presentation was held via Zoom. It was presented by Michael Donovan, Collections Manager, Paleobotany at the Field Museum will present “Ancient Forest Pests: Plant-Insect Interactions in the Fossil Record”. Plants and insects are the most diverse multicellular organisms on Earth, and their abundant interactions are fundamental components of ecosystems…
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Video for ESCONI Paleontology Meeting November 2023 – A Snapshot in Time: The Jurassic Lagerstätte of the Solnhofen Archipelago, Germany”
The presentation at the November 2023 Paleontology Meeting was given by Bruce and Rene Lauer. The title of the talk was “A Snapshot in Time: The Jurassic Lagerstätte of the Solnhofen Archipelago, Germany”. Bruce and Rene Lauer are founders and administrators of the Lauer Foundation for Paleontology, Science, and Education. The Lauer Foundation for Paleontology,…
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Video for ESCONI October 2023 General Meeting – “Microfossils to Mosasaurs: A Journey Through the University of Iowa Paleontology Repository”
Here is the video for the October 2023 General Meeting. The speaker was Tiffany Adrain, who works as the Paleontology Repository Collections Manager at the University of Iowa. The topic of her presentation was “Microfossils to Mosasaurs: A Journey Through the University of Iowa Paleontology Repository”.
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Video for ESCONI June 2023 General Meeting – “Using geophysics to capture Earth burps and other processes during flow through karst conduits”
The topic for the ESCONI June 2023 General Meeting was “Using geophysics to capture Earth burps and other processes during flow through karst conduits”. Our speaker was Andrew Luhmann Assistant Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Wheaton College, in Wheaton, IL. Karst aquifers are important water resources that are susceptible to…
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Video for ESCONI May 2023 General Meeting – “About the Falls of the Ohio State Park”
The title of the presentation at the May 2023 General Meeting was “About the Falls of the Ohio State Park”. It was given by Dr. Alan Goldstein. As a Park Paleontologist and Interpretive naturalist, Dr. Goldstein has worked at the Falls of the Ohio State Park’s Interpretive Center since it opened in January 1994. Additionally, Dr.…
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Video for ESCONI Paleontology Meeting January 2023 “The Devonian Period”
The ESCONI Paleontology Sttudy Group Meeting was held on Saturday, January 21st, 2023. The topic was “The Devonian Period”. The presentation was given by ESCONI member and Field Trip Chairman John Catalani. Palaeogeographic map of the Late Devonian world, based on ref.77. The location of Steinbruch Schmidt(1), the Siljan impact crater (S), the Viluy Traps…
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Video for ESCONI February 2023 General Meeting – “Baby Dinosaurs of the Arctic: Discovery and Research of a Dinosaur Nursery North of the Arctic Circle”
The February 2023 General Meeting was held on February 10th. The program “Baby Dinosaurs of the Arctic: Discovery and Research of a Dinosaur Nursery north of the Arctic Circle” was presented by Dr. Patrick Druckenmiller. Dr. Druckenmiller is Professor of Geology and Director of the University of Alaska Museum of the North. He is a…
