Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois

Fossil Friday

Fossil Friday #100: Lyginopteris hoeninghaus

This is the “Fossil Friday” post #100. 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! Wow, 100 posts… we are no over 100 for Mazon Monday, Throwback Thursday, and Fossil Friday. Please send us fossils for Fossil Friday! A 300 million year old fossil fern from Pottsville Formation in Alabama named Lyginopteris hoeninghausi. This species of seed fern is related to Sphenopteris from Mazon Creek. Like the…
Read more: Fossil Friday #100: Lyginopteris hoeninghaus
Calendar of Events, ESCONI Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show, Mazon Creek

2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – March 19th – 20th, 2022 – Preview #7, Tully Monsters!

This is the preview post #7 for the 2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The show is on March 19th and 20th, 2022 at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL. All details can be found here. Yep… you guessed it. We have a few partial Tully Monsters for the live auction! Come on out!
Read more: 2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – March 19th – 20th, 2022 – Preview #7, Tully Monsters!
Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday #102: ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 1992

This is Throwback Thursday #102. 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! ESCONI has been holding a show in the spring since about 1960. In the mid 1970’s, it became the Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show. Before that, there was the Indoor Field Trip hosted by the Paleontology Study Group. Today, we are looking back 30 years to the 1992 show. The show was held on March 7th and 8th, 1992 in the old College…
Read more: Throwback Thursday #102: ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 1992
Calendar of Events, ESCONI Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show

2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – March 19th – 20th, 2022 – Preview #6, Mazon Creek Plants

This is the preview post #6 for the 2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The show is on March 19th and 20th, 2022 at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL. All details can be found here. Today’s preview for the live auction is a box of assorted Mazon Creek plant fossils. There’s a little bit of everything, 3 ferns (Crenulopteris), 2 different seed ferns (Macroneuropteris and Alethopteris), and a lycopod (Asterophyllites). These were collected back in the 1950’s and 1960’s by an ESCONI member.
Read more: 2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – March 19th – 20th, 2022 – Preview #6, Mazon Creek Plants
Calendar of Events, ESCONI Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show

2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – March 19th – 20th, 2022 – Preview #5, Green River Mioplosus

This is the preview post #5 for the 2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The show is on March 19th and 20th, 2022 at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL. All details can be found here. Another stunning preview for our upcoming show this weekend, March 19th and 20th 2022. This is a Mioplosus labracoides from the Green River Formation in Wyoming. These extinct Perch-like fish have incredible detail. This one is from the famous 18″ layer, which yields some of the highest quality specimens. This particularly outstanding specimen was donated by Dave Carlson and prepared…
Read more: 2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – March 19th – 20th, 2022 – Preview #5, Green River Mioplosus
Mazon Creek, Mazon Monday

Mazon Monday #103: Asterophyllites equisetiformis

This is Mazon Monday post #103. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Today, we look at another part of the plant Calamites. Recall that paleobotany uses form genera as a strategy to identify plant parts. If you aren’t familiar with the concept, there is a good explanation in the “Keys to Identify Pennsylvanian Fossil Plants of the Mazon Creek Area”. THE CONCEPT OF FORM-GENERA IN IDENTIFYING FOSSIL PLANTS Biologists and paleobiologists who study and classify organisms often find biological structures that cannot be confidently assigned to any known organismic species. Such structures — mostly parts, life-stages,…
Read more: Mazon Monday #103: Asterophyllites equisetiformis
Calendar of Events, ESCONI Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show

Reminder: ESCONI 2022 Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show! March 19th and 20th, 2022

Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois ESCONI 2022 Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show March 19th and 20th Dealers, Demonstrators, Displays, Live and Silent Auctions,Book Sales, Kid’s Korner, Geode Splitting Free Parking! Free Admission! DuPage County Fairgrounds2015 Manchester Rd.Wheaton, IllinoisSaturday 10 AM to 5 PMSunday 10 AM to 4 PMwww.esconi.org Download Show Flyer
Read more: Reminder: ESCONI 2022 Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show! March 19th and 20th, 2022
Around the Web

New fossil reveals origin of arthropod breathing system

Phys.org has a story about a new Cambrian arthropod. Erratus sperare was discovered in the Chenjiang Fossil Site in Yunnan, China. That site dates to about 520 million years ago during the Cambrian Period. The researchers were looking for evidence of the evolution of biramous limbs from specialized flaps. In both cases, the limbs are used for locomotion and as gill structures. E. sperare has both. The research was published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. University of Manchester research fellow David Legg, in collaboration with a team of international scientists from China, Switzerland,…
Read more: New fossil reveals origin of arthropod breathing system
Fossil Friday, Mazon Creek

Fossil Friday #99: Tully Monster!

This is the “Fossil Friday” post #99. 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! Our first Mazon Monday was about the Tully Monster. First discovered in 1955 by an amateur fossil collector named Francis Tully, Tullimonstrum gregarium became the state fossil of Illinois in 1989. Since then, it has captured the heart of both amateur and professional paleontologists. Hey, how many Pennsylvanian fossils can be found…
Read more: Fossil Friday #99: Tully Monster!
Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday #101: The Easy Way Out

This is Throwback Thursday #101. 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! Another Bill Allaway poem is our Throwback Thursday post for this week. Bill was the first chairman of ESCONI. He contributed more than a few poems for the newsletter over the years. My favorite is “Winter’s Field Trip”, which we posted in Throwback Thursday #30. This one is called “The Easy Way Out” and appeared in the December 1951 edition of the newsletter.…
Read more: Throwback Thursday #101: The Easy Way Out
Around the Web

NYT: How 2 Pterosaurs’ Last Meals Ended Up in the Fossil Record

Two pterosaur fossils from China dating to the Late Jurassic, with green arrows indicating the pellets; the yellow arrows indicate fish scales.Credit…Jiang et al., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2022 The New York Times Trilobite column has a story about some Chinese pterosaurs. A paper in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B details the discovery of gut contents in the remains of two pterosaur fossil found in China. The animals lived during the late Jurassic about 160 million years ago. Fur, bones, feathers and scales can be murder on the digestion. So predators that gulp…
Read more: NYT: How 2 Pterosaurs’ Last Meals Ended Up in the Fossil Record
ESCONI Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show

2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – March 19th – 20th, 2022 – Preview #4, Mucrospirifer Brachiopod Plate

This is the preview post #4 for the 2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The show is on March 19th and 20th, 2022 at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL. All details can be found here. A brachiopod plate from the Silica shale in Ohio is our next preview. The plate has some well preserved Mucrospirifer mucronatus brachiopods. For more information, Fossil Friday #7 looked at the Silica shale, which is exposed in quarries around Toledo, OH. The LaFarge quarry in Paulding, OH is a famous locality where anyone can stop and collect various Devonian fossils.
Read more: 2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – March 19th – 20th, 2022 – Preview #4, Mucrospirifer Brachiopod Plate
Mazon Creek, Mazon Monday

Mazon Monday #102: Eoscorpius carbonarius

This is Mazon Monday post #102. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Scorpions are very rare in the Mazon Creek fossil biota. Eoscorpius carbonarius was described by FB. Meek and A.H. Worthen in 1868. The paper was published in the America Journal of Sciences – “Meek, Fielding B. & A. H. Worthen. 1868. Preliminary notice on a scorpion, a Eurypterus? and other fossils from the Coal Measures of Illinois and Iowa. American Journal of Sciences and Arts 2(45): 22-25.”, where they called it Eurypterus carbonarius. ART. II.-Preliminary notice of a Scorpion, a Eurypterus? and other fossils,…
Read more: Mazon Monday #102: Eoscorpius carbonarius
Around the Web

New species of spinosaurid dinosaur discovered in Portugal

Phys.org has a story about a new species of spinosaur. A paper published in PLOS ONE looks at some dinosaur fossils discovered 23 years ago in Portugal. The authors from both the NOVA School of Science and Technology and Museu da Lourinhã describe the bones as Iberospinus natarioi, a new species of spinosaur. Spinosaurids are believed to be one of the largest living carnivores to have ever walked the earth. They were long with large back legs and small front legs, as well as long tails and large heads that somewhat resembled those of a crocodile. They lived during the…
Read more: New species of spinosaurid dinosaur discovered in Portugal
Around the Web

PBS Eons: Sharks nearly went extinct 19 million years ago

PBS Eons has a new #shorts episode. This one is about a time when sharks almost went extinct about 19 million years ago. There used to be SO MANY sharks…where did they go? References: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/s…
Read more: PBS Eons: Sharks nearly went extinct 19 million years ago
Fossil Friday, Mazon Creek

Fossil Friday #98: Missouri Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri

This is the “Fossil Friday” post #98. 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! Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri, a seed fern, is up for this week’s Fossil Friday. However, this specimen is from Knob Noster in Missouri not Mazon Creek. The Knob Noster locality is thought to be contemporaneous with Mazon Creek, which dates to about 307 million years ago. Back in the Pennsylvanian, a large bay is…
Read more: Fossil Friday #98: Missouri Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri
Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday #100: Looking Back at ESCONI for March 2022

This is Throwback Thursday #100. 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 – March 1997 50 Years Ago – March 1972 70 Years Ago – March 1952
Read more: Throwback Thursday #100: Looking Back at ESCONI for March 2022
ESCONI Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show

2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – March 19th – 20th, 2022 – Preview #3, Fluorite Crystals

This is the preview post #3 for the 2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The show is on March 19th and 20th, 2022 at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL. All details can be found here. Here’s another mineral specimen for the live auction at the ESCONI show. This is fluorite from the famous Royal Flush Mine in Bingham, New Mexico. The Mex-Tex mine, in New Mexico’s famous Hansonburg district, has been operated solely for mineral specimens since 1987. Fine specimens of spangolite, brochantite, creedite, cyanotrichite, fluorite, linarite, tsumebite and wulfenite have been recovered. INTRODUCTION The…
Read more: 2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – March 19th – 20th, 2022 – Preview #3, Fluorite Crystals
Calendar of Events

Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep at the Field Museum – Until September 5th, 2022

Illustration courtesy of Bob Nicholls (2009) The Field Museum recently opened a new exhibit… “Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep”. It runs until September 5th, 2022. More information can be found at the Field Museum website. During the Jurassic period, dinosaurs roamed a landscape covered in lush rainforests—thanks to Hollywood, most of us have a pretty good idea of what that world looked like, but the Field Museum’s newest exhibition gives visitors a chance to dive into the other side of that world: its seas. Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep, which will open on February 25, takes visitors on an…
Read more: Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep at the Field Museum – Until September 5th, 2022
Calendar of Events

ESCONI Events March 2022

Welcome back! Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings! Sat, Mar 19th ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the DuPage County Fairgrounds (Map) Details here. Show flyer. Sun, Mar 20th ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the DuPage County Fairgrounds (Map) Details here. Show flyer. ESCONI Junior Meeting No meeting this month… see you at the show! ESCONI General Meeting No meeting this month… see you at the show! ESCONI Paleontology Meeting No meeting this month… see you at…
Read more: ESCONI Events March 2022

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

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