Category: Mazon Creek
-
Mazon Monday #173: Halicyne max
This is Mazon Monday post #173. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Halicyne max is a species of Cycloidea from Mazon Creek. Other Cycloidea species known from Mazon Creek are Cyclus americanus, Cyclus obesus, and Apionicon apiodes. Of these, the most commonly known is Cyclus americanus. Halicyne max was described in…
-
Fossil Friday #169: Odontopteris subcuneata
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #169. 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! Odontopteris subcuneata is an uncommon form that…
-
Mazon Monday #172: Fossil Insect Symposium 1990
On May 18th, 1990, ESCONI was part of a symposium on Mazon Creek fossil insects from Pit 11. Unfortunately, there aren’t many details. However, we recently ran across some photos from the event at the Carbon Hill School Museum in their Tom Testa collection. Tom donated the photos and other miscellaneous materials. His Mazon Creek…
-
Mazon Creek Fossil Day, October 14th, 2023, 10 AM to 3 PM, Coal City Public Library
JOIN US FOR MAZON CREEK FOSSIL DAY Coal City Public LibraryOctober 14, 202310 AM to 3 PM Displays of Mazon Creek FossilsIdentification of Mazon Creek FossilsBooks on Mazon Creek Fossils for saleLecture on collecting Mazon CreekFossils at 1 PM Download Flyer Presented by ESCONI (Earth Science Club ofNorthern Illinois) and the Carbon Hill SchoolMuseum
-
Mazon Monday #171: Tullies at CGMA
This is Mazon Monday post #171. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Back at the CGMA show in late May, Jack Wittry brought a very nice Tully Monster display from the Field Museum. Jack brings a nice display every year to CGMA. Last year’s topic was sharks of Mazon Creek. This…
-
Fossil Friday #167: Reticulopteris munsterii
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #167. 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! I don’t know about you guys, but…
-
Mazon Monday #170: Rhacophyllum clarkii
This is Mazon Monday post #170. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Several species of Aphlebia and Rhacophyllum have been identified in the Mazon Creek fossil deposit, though all are considered rare—and some exceptionally so. Their classification is somewhat uncertain, with some specimens grouped with aquatic plants and others with ferns.…
-
Fossil Friday #166: Annularia sphenophylloides
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #166. 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! We have a gorgeous little Annularia sphenophylloides…
-
Throwback Thursday #167: Tom Testa Winter Freeze/Thaw
In case you didn’t notice, summer is here. It’s been hot the last few days and it’s getting even hotter. Here’s a scene that will surely cool you off … frozen Mazon Creek concretions. Although, the thoughts of hidden treasures might get your blood boiling!
-
Mazon Monday #169 – Mazoscolopendra richardsoni
This is Mazon Monday post #169. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Way back in Mazon Monday #47, we discussed Mazon Creek centipedes, however Mazoscolopendra richardsoni (Richardson’s Mazonian centipede) wasn’t mentioned. M. richardsoni is the second most common centipede known from Mazon Creek, but centipedes are exceedingly rare in the Mazon Creek…
-
Fossil Friday #165: “Take ALL Fragments Home With You!!!”
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #165. 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! Another Fossil Friday, another Miamia bronsoni… insect…
-
Mazon Monday #168: Miamia bronsoni
This is Mazon Monday post #168. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Insects are some of the most highly sought after Mazon Creek fossils. While very common in the modern world, insects are very rare in the fossil record. Mazon Creek has played a vital part in the understanding of insect…
-
Fossil Friday #164: A Miamia bronsoni with a story…
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #164. 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! Or… “A Mazon Creek Story 39 Years…
-
Mazon Monday #167: Phlegethontia longissima
This is Mazon Monday post #167. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Phlegethontia longissima is a leg-less animal, often incorrectly called an amphibian. It is a vertebrate, which is classified as an aistopod from the Carboniferous and Permian periods. It has been found in Europe and North America. As with any…
-
Fossil Friday #163: Mazon Creek Shark Egg Case
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #163. 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! We have another Mazon Creek fossil today. …
-
Throwback Thursday #164: Looking Back At ESCONI for June 2023
This is Throwback Thursday #164. 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! 25 Years Ago – June 1998 50 Years Ago – June 1973 70 Years Ago – June 1953
-
Mazon Monday #166: Langford Book 2nd Edition – June 1963
This is Mazon Monday post #166. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. June 1963 saw the first copies of George Langford’s second book “The Wilmington Coal Fauna and Additions to the Wilmington Coal Flora From a Pennsylvanian Deposit in Will County, Illinois”. This book detailed the animals of Mazon Creek and…
-
Fossil Friday #162: J.C. Carr Mazon Creek Fern
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #162. 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! For this week, we have a fossil…
-
Mazon Monday #165: Braceville Spring 2023 Report
This is Mazon Monday post #165. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The ESCONI Braceville field trips for spring of 2023 were well attended. We had 50+ people for both Saturday, May 6th and Sunday, May 7th. The weather was great. Saturday started overcast with light sprinkles, but turned into a…
-
Fossil Friday #161: Seeds from Danville
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #161. 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! On April 15th, 2023, ESCONI held a…
-
Mazon Monday #164: The Mazon Creek Fossil Fauna – Book Review
This is Mazon Monday post #164. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Jack Wittry is a long time ESCONI member, who has written three books on the fossils of Mazon Creek “The Mazon Creek Fossil Flora” in 2006, “The Mazon Creek Fossil Fauna” in 2012, and “A Comprehensive Guide to the…
-
Throwback Thursday #161: Looking Back at ESCONI for May 2023
This is Throwback Thursday #161. 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! 25 Years Ago – May 1998 50 Years Ago – May 1973 70 Years Ago – May 1953…
-
Mazon Monday #163: Neuropteris flexuosa
This is Mazon Monday post #163. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Today, we have a different variety of Neuropteris – Neuropteris flexuosa. N. flexuosa is more rare than N. vermicularis. One distinguishing feature is a very large terminal pinnule. It also tends to have denser veins than N. vermicularis. This…
-
Fossil Friday #159: Danville Callipteridium
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #159. 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! For this week’s Fossil Friday, we have…
-
Mazon Monday #162: Field Trip Report for Danville Spoil Pile
This is Mazon Monday post #162. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. This was our fifth field trip to the Danville spoil pile. It’s been a very productive locality over the last couple years. The trips have been very popular, with every trip filling up quickly, even though the site is…
-
Fossil Friday #158: Helen Asher Cnidarian
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #158. 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! Today, we have a historically significant Mazon…
-
Mazon Monday #161: Is the Tully Monster a vertebrate?
Phys.org has a story about the new Tully Monster paper that was published in the journal Paleontology last week. The Tully Monster is the State Fossil of Illinois. And, although it is a popular animal, its evolutionary ancestry has been problematic. Since it’s discovery in 1958 by Francis Tully, numerous theories of its evolutionary affinity…
-
Fossil Friday #157: Danville Cone
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #157. 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! Last Saturday, April 15th, 2023, ESCONI had…
-
Mazon Monday #160: Braidwood’s Buried Treasures
This is Mazon Monday post #160. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The following article appeared in Commonwealth Edison Company’s Employee Bulletin in February 1979. It was later published in the West Suburban Lapidary Club bulletin The Opal in November 1982, and the ESCONI Newsletter in January 1983. There’s much to…
-
Mazon Monday #159: A new Carboniferous edaphosaurid and the origin of herbivory in mammal forerunners
This is Mazon Monday post #159. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Arjan Mann is lead author of a paper that describes a new edaphosaurid, Melanedaphodon hovaneci, from the late Pennsylvanian Period around 310 million years ago. The paper appeared in the in the journal Nature. The animal is a ancestor…
