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PBS Eons: When We Left The Water (By Accident)
Read more: PBS Eons: When We Left The Water (By Accident)PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about when tetrapods moved from the water onto land… It’s beginning to look like our success on land, and that of all tetrapods, from frogs to dogs to dinosaurs, was just a lucky side-effect of fish trying to stay fish.
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Fossil Friday #289: Asolanus camptotaenia bark from the Mazon River
Read more: Fossil Friday #289: Asolanus camptotaenia bark from the Mazon RiverThis is the “Fossil Friday” post #289. Expect this to be a regular feature of the website. We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! Recently, George Witaszek sent us photos of a rare Mazon Creek fossil. He found fossils of the inner bark of Asolanus camptotaenia. A. camptotaenia was described by Horatio Curtis Wood in 1860, “Contributions to the Carboniferous flora of the United States“, Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia Proc. 1860 12: 236-240. The locatity and position for the…
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Throwback Thursday #289: Happy 200th Birthday, Erie Canal!
Read more: Throwback Thursday #289: Happy 200th Birthday, Erie Canal!The Chicago Sun Times ran an interesting piece about the Erie Canal about the 200th birthday of the Erie Canal on October 26th, 2025. The article was written by by Neil Steinberg, a Sun Times Columnist. Steinberg states the Erie Canal was the most significant event in the history of Chicago.
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ESCONI November 2025 Mineral Study Group – November 1st, 2025 at 7:30 PM at the College of DuPage – “Fluorite”
Read more: ESCONI November 2025 Mineral Study Group – November 1st, 2025 at 7:30 PM at the College of DuPage – “Fluorite”The ESCONI Mineral Study Group will meet on Saturday, November 1st, 2025 at 7:30 PM in TEC 1038B at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. See Directions and Map below. The program will be on “Fluorite”. Southern Illinois was once a major producer of world-class fluorite specimens, primarily from Hardin County. While no commercial mining currently operates, you can still find fluorite through surface collecting or by searching areas where previous mines were located. Join us as we talk about all things fluorite, look at pictures of beautiful examples and examine many impressive specimens in person. If you have your own examples of…
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Will County Forest Preserve: Silurian Trilobite Souvenirs
Read more: Will County Forest Preserve: Silurian Trilobite SouvenirsEvent details ***Please note this program is being offered virtually via Zoom.*** Join Donald G. Mikulic for a fascinating look at the trilobite fossils left behind by the Silurian Sea that was once right here in Will County! Mikulic was a senior paleontologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and served as the curator of Weis Earth Science Museum. He has edited books about fossils, including “Fabulous Fossils: 300 Years of Worldwide Research on Trilobites.” Log in and learn from the expert! Event information Date: Thursday, November 13, 2025Time: 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.Fee: Free!Age: Ages 14 or older.Contact: 815-722-9301 Event requirements Registration required by…
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Mazon Monday #293: Mazon Creek Project Slides
Read more: Mazon Monday #293: Mazon Creek Project SlidesThis is Mazon Monday post #293. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The Mazon Creek Project was a program sponsored by Northeastern Illinois University. Founded in the 1960s, by the late Eugene Richardson Curator of Fossil Invertebrates at the Field Museum in Chicago Illinois. It was originally an attempt to encourage more communication between paleontologists and amateur collectors. After Peabody Coal Company sold Pit 11 to Commonwealth Edison for the construction of the Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant, some areas were lost to collecting. The main goal of the project became keeping the Mazonia-Braidwood Conservation Area open for…
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ESCONI Events for November 2025
Read more: ESCONI Events for November 2025Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings! Sat, Nov 1st Mineralogy Study Group Meeting – 7:30 PM at the College of DuPage Technical Education Center (TEC) Building – Room 1038B (Map) – “Fluorite” Bring your specimens for “Show and Tell” Sat, Nov 8th Junior Group Meeting – 6:30 PM There will be a presentation about the discovery of “Teen Rex”. Specifics of this meeting are available from Scott Galloway, 630-670-2591, gallowayscottf@gmail.com. The meeting will be in person at the College of DuPage Technical Education Center (TEC) Building – Room 1038A (Map). Fri, Nov 14th General Meeting – 8:00 PM – via Zoom. Melissa Pardi, Curator…
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PBS Eons: Bed bugs, our first pest
Read more: PBS Eons: Bed bugs, our first pestPBS Eons has a YouTube Short about bed bugs.
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Video for ESCONI October 2025 Paleontology Study Group Meeting – “Creating 3D Digital Models for Paleontology”
Read more: 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 shows, movies, commercials, and in science. Methods to create models grow more sophisticated – and expensive. Still, there is an affordable and achievable way to create models that can help in many ways such as identifying specimens and teaching about them. This presentation will include…
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Fossil Friday #288: Danville Roachoid Wing
Read more: Fossil Friday #288: Danville Roachoid WingThis is the “Fossil Friday” post #288. Expect this to be a regular feature of the website. We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! Andrew Young sent us photos of a beautiful Roachoid wing from one of our Danville field trips in 2024. It opened late this spring (2025) after about 30 cycles. Danville concretions are hard and can take a long time top open. We are slowly adding animals to the list of fossils from this locality, as…
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Throwback Thursday #288: For the fun of it!
Read more: Throwback Thursday #288: For the fun of it!This is Throwback Thursday #288. 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 a few limericks from the December 1999 edition of the newsletter. The attibution “Complements of ‘The Dalys’” probably refers to Jim Daly (and his family). Jim is listed as a member from 1983 until 2018. FOR THE FUN OF IT! THERE ONCE WAS A ROCKHOUND NAMED STOUT, WHO ON OLD QUARRY WALLS CLIMBED ABOUT, WHEN SPYING SOME GARNET, SLIPPED RIGHT OFF,…
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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”
Read more: 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. How many of these do you know? The widely employed Childean proxy for civilizations falls short every time one ventures beyond the Eurasian borders, and Africa is no exception. Using the medieval site of Great Zimbabwe (1000-1900CE) in Zimbabwe, as a vignette, this talk explores…
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Video for ESCONI September 2025 General Meeting – “Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site”
Read more: 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 Hopewell sites in the Illinois River Valley. After graduation she worked as the supervisor of volunteer excavations of the East Palisade at Cahokia Mounds for two summers and worked as a Seasonal Interpreter at the site in between those summers. She returned to University of…
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Mazon Monday #292: Mazon Creek Fossil Day 2025
Read more: Mazon Monday #292: Mazon Creek Fossil Day 2025This is Mazon Monday post #292. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. We had a nice turnout at the Mazon Creek Fossil Day event in the Coal City library a few weeks ago. There were multiple displays by members and people brought in some of their finds for identification. Last week’s Fossil Friday was an absolutely beautiful shark egg case (Palaeoxyris multiplicatum, see Fossil Friday #287). There were plenty of familiar (smiling) faces. There were many fossil discussions and Jack Witty was there. He gave us a quick update on the new Mazon Creek animal book he’s…
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PBS Eons: We’re The Only Ones With Chins – And We Don’t Know Why
Read more: PBS Eons: We’re The Only Ones With Chins – And We Don’t Know WhyPBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about chins and how/why it fits into human evolution. Check out the first episode of Human: https://to.pbs.org/HumanNOVA You share a trait with every single human who’s ever lived – but no other animal on Earth has it. It’s not your big brain, or your opposable thumbs… it’s actually this little shelf on your face that we call a chin. And here’s the thing: we’re not totally sure why it exists.
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Northwest Illinois Rock Club’s 2025 Jewelry, Gem, Fossil, and Mineral Show – November 8th and 9th, 2025
Read more: Northwest Illinois Rock Club’s 2025 Jewelry, Gem, Fossil, and Mineral Show – November 8th and 9th, 2025It you’re up near Freeport, IL the weekend of November 8th and 9th, 2025. This looks like a good time! More information on their Facebook page.
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Fossil Friday #287: Palaeoxyris multiplicatum
Read more: Fossil Friday #287: Palaeoxyris multiplicatumThis is the “Fossil Friday” post #287. Expect this to be a regular feature of the website. We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! Hunter Nettles brought an absolutely breathtaking specimen of Palaeoxyris multiplicatum to the Mazon Creek Fossil Day. This specimen was found last year (2024) in the Pit 1 locality of Mazon Creek. Palaeoxyris multiplicatum is a species of shark egg case from the Mazon Creek fossil deposit. Jack Wittry wrote a very nice field guide of…
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Throwback Thursday #287: Cafe ESCONI Menu
Read more: Throwback Thursday #287: Cafe ESCONI MenuUnfortunately, we don’t have a year for this story. It was probably in the early 1990s. If anyone remembers when the display first appeared, please send it to esconi.info@gmail.com. Sylvia Josefek and her husband Paul were very active in ESCONI during 1980s and 1990s. Paul was Treasurer from 1985 until 1990, while Sylvia was interested in lapadary and jewelry making. She created and later donated this “Rock Cafe” display to the Lizzadro Museum in Oak Brook, IL.
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Happy National Fossil 2025!
Read more: Happy National Fossil 2025!Every year the National Park Service picks a park for National Fossil Day. For 2025, it’s the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (JODA). There are many ways to celebrate the day… see this link. Today, the badlands, sagebrush steppe, and riparian habitats of the John Day River Basin of eastern and central Oregon support diverse systems of plants and animals. Beneath the surfaces, the rocks and deposits include evidence of many millions of years of living things that came before, shaping those modern systems. There is an unparalleled record here telling the stories of how life in their environments has…
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ESCONI October 2025 Paleontology Study Group Meeting – October 18th, 2025 at 7:30 PM via Zoom – “Creating 3D Digital Models for Paleontology”
Read more: ESCONI October 2025 Paleontology Study Group Meeting – October 18th, 2025 at 7:30 PM via Zoom – “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 by Shellie Luallin. Shellie Luallin will be presenting “Creating 3D Digital Models for Paleontology”. 3D models increasingly appear in the digital realm – in TV shows, movies, commercials, and in science. Methods to create models grow more sophisticated – and expensive. Still, there is an affordable and achievable way to create models that can help in many ways such as identifying specimens and teaching about them. This presentation will…
ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show
Most Recent Post
- Mazon Monday #316: Sublepidophloios protuberans
Today, we have Sublepidophloios protuberans, which is a species of lycopsid branch. It’s very common, actually the most common form of lycopsid bark in the Mazon Creek fossil flora.
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Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings!
| Friday, April 10th | General Meeting – 8:00 PM via Zoom. Jessica Hull will present “Life in the Devonian Period, The Age of Fishes.” |
| Saturday, April 11th | Junior Study Group Meeting – 2:00 PM, in person at the College of DuPage Technical Education Center (TEC) Building – Room 1038A (Map). Katherine Howard will present on Sand and Sediment Collecting. Specifics of this meeting are available from Scott Galloway, 630-670-2591, gallowayscottf@gmail.com. |
| Saturday, April 18th | Paleontology Study Group – 7:30 PM via Zoom and in person at the College of DuPage, TEC, Room 1038B (Map). Keith Robitschek will present “Digging the Marl of the Lance Formation.” |
| Friday, April 24th | MAPS Expo XLVII – Springfield, IL. |
| Saturday, April 25th | MAPS Expo XLVII – Springfield, IL. |
| Sunday, April 26th | MAPS Expo XLVII – Springfield, IL. |
| No meeting this month | Mineralogy Study Group |