Category: Mazon Creek
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Mazon Monday #262: Kankakeea grundyi
This is Mazon Monday post #262. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Kankakeea grundyi was a bud used for vegetative reproduction, that, once shed, would grow a new fern. It has been associated with Crenulopteris acadica, as they have been found in association. It is rare and a usually found in…
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Fossil Friday #258: Asterophyllites equisetiformis from Braceville!
We have another Calamites related specimen for this week’s Fossil Friday. Asterophyllites equisetiformis was part of the foliage for Calamites. Remember Calamites is an extinct species of modern day horsetails, which belong to the genus Equisetum. During the Carboniferous, they were quite diverse, with some forms growing very tall, reaching 30 meters (98 feet!). They…
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ESCONI Field Trip to Danville Shale Pile Fossils – Saturday, April 26th, 2025
This field trip is full Danville Field Trip Rules for Saturday, April 26th, 2025 An ESCONI field trip to the Danville IL Shale Pile for Pennsylvanian fossils is scheduled for Saturday April 26, 2025 starting at 10 AM. This is on private property and there is an attendance limit of 25 people. The gate will…
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Mazon Monday #261: Bear Gulch Cyclids
This is Mazon Monday post #261. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Who doesn’t like a nice cyclid fossil? Well, the Lauers (and friends) are here with a full plate of them… The fossil plate comes from the legendary Bear Gulch locality in Montana, US. The Bear Gulch Beds of the…
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Fossil Friday #257: Calamostachys tuberculata Cone from the Mazon River
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #257. This is a 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! —————————————————– We have a gorgeous Calamostachys tuberculata…
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Mazon Monday #260: Mazon Creek and the Field Museum in the News!
This is Mazon Monday post #260. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Sorry for the delay today. Typepad was having technical difficulties. WBEZ had a recent story about Mazon Creek fossils. Some of our favorite scientists at the Field Museum were mentioned in the article. Inside the fossil hunt: Digging for…
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2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #25: Spiropteris from Mazon Creek
This is the preview post #25 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 #23: Tullymonstrum gregarium!
This is the preview post #23 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 #22: Kallidecthes richardsoni from Mazon Creek
This is the preview post #22 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 #21: Cyclopteris from Mazon Creek
This is the preview post #21 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 #256: Mazon Creek Millipede
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #256. This is a 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! —————————————————– For this week, we have Euphoberia,…
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Throwback Thursday #256: Scenes from the 2018 Show
This is Throwback Thursday #256. 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. Here are some scenes from the 2018 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show, which was held on…
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2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #17: Mazon Creek Chiton
This is the preview post #17 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 #16: Protorthoptera
This is the preview post #16 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 #259: Pecopteris bucklandii
This is Mazon Monday post #259. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Pecopteris bucklandii is one of the rarer ferns from Mazon Creek. Like all the true ferns from Mazon Creek, P. bucklandii is an extinct species of the class Filcopsida. It’s fronds have been associated with the Caboniferous tree fern…
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2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #13: Acanthodes Fish from Mazon Creek
This is the preview post #13 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 #255: Pecopteris bucklandii
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #255. This is a 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! —————————————————– We have a very rare Mazon…
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2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #9: Lobetelson mclaughlinae from Mazon Creek
This is the preview post #9 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 #258: Myriotheca scaberrima
Myriotheca scaberrima is a very rare fern, which was originally only known from fertile foliage. It was named by Leo Lesquereux as Sphenopteris scaberrima in 1870. In 1901, it was reclassified as Myriotheca scaberrima by Elias Howard Sellards (1875 – 1961). Sellards was a paleontologist, geologist, and anthropologist. The Texas State Historical Association has a…
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Mazon Monday #254: Pit 11 Concretions
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 on the ground. Spring is the prime season for fossil hunting at Pit 11, the original name…
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Fossil Friday #250: Alethopteris sullivantii
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #250. 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! Today, we’re featuring a…
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Throwback Thursday #250: Andy Hay Speaks at Lizzadro on Mazon Creek Plants – March 10th, 2001
Andy Hay was a dedicated ESCONI member, joining in 1976 and remaining active until the very end. He contributed significantly to the organization, writing the Creature Corner column in the ESCONI bulletin for many years. His work was crucial in the development of the ESCONI Keys books… “Keys to Identify Pennsylvanian Fossil Plants of the…
