Category: Mazon Creek
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Mazon Monday #233: How the Tully monster became Illinois’ official state fossil
As you probably know, the Tully Monster is the State Fossil of Illinois. It a real fan favorite. Everyone loves the Tully Monster… did you know there are stuffed Tullys you can buy online?!? Last week, the Chicago Tribune did a vintage article called “How the Tully monster became Illinois’ official state fossil“.
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Fossil Friday #229: Tullymonstrum gregarium
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #229. 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! A beautifully preserved Tullymonstrum gregarium is our…
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Mazon Monday #232: Braidwood Field Trip – September 1959
This is Mazon Monday post #232. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. On September 27th, 1959, ESCONI sponsored the Annual Autumn Braidwood Field Trip. These trips were held each year many times with the different Chicago clubs rotating as hosts. John and Lucy McLuckie were on hand every year. Sometimes, the…
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Fossil Friday #228: Mazon Creek Annularia inflata
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #228. 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’s Fossil Friday is a beautiful…
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Mazon Monday #231: Pecopteris strongii
This is Mazon Monday post #231. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Pecopteris strongii is a rare fossil fern known only from the Mazon Creek Fossil Flora. It was named for early Mazon Creek collector Samuel Strong by Leo Lesquereux in 1870. Strong was a prolific collector, who later sold most…
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Fossil Friday #227: Belotelson magister
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #227. 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! It’s Friday and that means it’s time…
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Mazon Monday #230: Konecnys in Earth Science Magazine
This is Mazon Monday post #230. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Over the years, we’ve shared numerous articles about Jim and Sylvia Konecny, highlighting their significant contributions to ESCONI. Jim served as ESCONI’s president in 1966 and 1967, but both he and Sylvia were involved in much more. They played…
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Fossil Friday #226: Acanthotelson stimpsoni from Pit 11
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #226. 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 installment of Fossil Friday,…
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Mazon Monday #229: Pit 11 Field Trip in September 1976
This is Mazon Monday post #229. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. —————————————————– The hills of Pit 11 have changed quite a bit over the years. Pit 11 was and active mine until 1974, so these photos are from just two years afterwards. Notice the lack of vegetation! If you’ve been…
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Fossil Friday #225: Annularia inflata
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #225. 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 very colorful…
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ESCONI Field Trip to Braceville, IL for Mazon Creek Fossils – Saturday, September 7th and Sunday September 8th, 2024
Braceville Field Trip Rules Sept 2024 The ESCONI field trips to Braceville for Mazon Creek fossils are set for Sept 7 and 8, 2024 from 9 AM to 3 PM. You can attend one or the other, but not both days. There is an attendance limit of 50 people each day. You must register to…
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Mazon Monday #228: Eubleptus danielsi
This is Mazon Monday post #228. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Eubleptus danielsi belongs to the Palaeodictyoptera an extinct order of medium-sized to very large, primitive Palaeozoic paleopterous insects. Palaeodictyoptera give many clues to the evolution of wings in insects. E. danielsi was described by Anton Handlirsch in 1906. Handlirsch (1865…
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Fossil Friday #224: Alethopteris serlii
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #224. 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! —————————————————– Alethopteris serlii is always a favorite. …
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Mazon Monday #227: Ode to a Blob
This is Mazon Monday post #227. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The poem below is about Essexella asherae, the iconic Mazon Creek cnidarian (see Mazon Monday #14). E. Asherae was named for Helen Asher (see Fossil Friday #158) by Merrill W. Foster in 1979 in “Soft-bodied coelenterates in the Pennsylvanian…
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Fossil Friday #223: Acanthotelson stimpsoni
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #223. 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 nice little…
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Mazon Monday #226: Historic Collectors – Jerry Herdina
This is Mazon Monday post #226. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. In January 1975 edition of the Field Museum Bulletin, there was a small blurb about the donation of a “Huge Coal Age Fossil Collection” to the Field Museum. It was vastly understated. Jerry Herdina (1905-1974) was a retired construction…
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Fossil Friday #222: Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #222. 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 Macroneuropteris scheuchzerii…
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Throwback Thursday #223: Eugene Richardson – Fossil Localities Old and New
This is Throwback Thursday #223. 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! ——————————————————————————————- Eugene Richardson, Jr. wrote a nice little article for the May 1952 edition of the Chicago Natural…
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Mazon Monday #225: Lepidostrobus foliaceus
This is Mazon Monday post #225. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Lepidostrobus foliaceus is one of the rarer forms of Lepidostrobus, which is the cone structure from a lepidodendron tree. L. foliaceus was named by Leo Lesquereux in 1870. Lesquereux (1806-1889) was a Swiss-born bryologist and a pioneer of American…
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Mazon Monday #224: Holmacanthus keithi
This is Mazon Monday post #224. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. In keeping with Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, we have a Mazon Creek shark… Holmacanthus keithi for this week’s Mazon Monday. Holmacanthus keithi was named for Keith Holm, who found the holotype in Pit 11 in the early…
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Fossil Friday #220: Annularia inflata
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #220. 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! Annularia inflata is out Fossil Friday for…
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Mazon Monday #223: NAPC at Braceville!
This is Mazon Monday post #223. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The first NAPC conference was held in 1969 at the Field Museum in Chicago, IL (see Mazon Monday #221). ESCONI participated by displaying many nice Mazon Creek fossils. NAPC 2024 was held in Ann Arbor, Michigan the week of…
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Fossil Friday #219: Neuropteris vermicularis – Terminal Pinnule
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #219. 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! Neuropteris vermicularis is a seed fern (see…
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Mazon Monday #222: Violetta Whitfield’s Insects
This is Mazon Monday post #222. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Robert and Violetta Wihitfield collected fossils with George Langford (Mazon Monday #220) in the 1940s and 1950s. Langford curated the Mazon Creek fossils he donated to the Field Museum, working there from 1948 until 1961. Both Robert and Violetta…
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Fossil Friday #218: Rhabdoderma elegans from the Field Museum
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #218. 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! Rhabdoderma elegans was described by John Strong…
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Mazon Monday #221: Mazon Creek and ESCONI at NAPC 1969
This is Mazon Monday post #221. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The very first North American Paleontological Convention (NAPC) was held 55 years ago on September 5th, 6th, and 7th, 1969. The conference was hosted by the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, IL. ESCONI and Mazon Creek played…
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Fossil Friday #217: Cordaites borassifolius
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #217. 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! —————————————————– Here is a nice Cordaites borassifolius…
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Mazon Monday #220: George Langford
This is Mazon Monday post #220. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Jim Konecny wrote this piece for the June 1994 edition of the ESCONI Earth Science News. This year marks the 60th anniversary of George’s death. He was a interesting man. His contributions were many… to Mazon Creek, science, ESCONI,…
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Fossil Friday #216: Lycopodites meekii
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #216. 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 foliaged…
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Mazon Monday #219: Acantherpestes and Myriacantherpestes
This is Mazon Monday post #219. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Last Friday (Fossil Friday #215), we highlighted a stunning millipede from the Pennsylvanian of Kansas. That’s wasn’t the first millipede from Kansas that made it to Fossil Friday, as Fossil Friday #134 was about the same genus of millipede, Myriacantherpestes. …
