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NYT: Fossils of a Prehistoric Rainforest Hide in Australia’s Rusted Rocks
Read more: NYT: Fossils of a Prehistoric Rainforest Hide in Australia’s Rusted RocksThe New York Times has a story about an amazing fossil rain forest. Dating to about 15 million years ago during the Miocene Epoch, this deposit hold exquisitely preserved insects, spiders, plans, even a feather. A description of the site was published recently in the journal Science Advances, Fifteen million years ago, a river carved through the jungle, leaving an oxbow lake (known as a billabong in Australia) in its wake at McGraths Flat. Nearly devoid of oxygen, this stagnant pool kept scavengers at bay, allowing plant material and animal carcasses to accumulate. As iron-rich runoff from nearby basalt mountains…
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ESCONI January 2022 General Meeting – January 14th, 2022 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – “Through the Ages: How we Date Rocks and Geologic Processes”
Read more: ESCONI January 2022 General Meeting – January 14th, 2022 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – “Through the Ages: How we Date Rocks and Geologic Processes”The January 2022 General Meeting will be held at 8:00 PM on January 14th, 2022 via Zoom. Our speaker is Dr. Alyssa Abbey from California State University Long Beach. The title of her talk is “Through the Ages: How we Date Rocks and Geologic Processes”. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84180301201?pwd=OUxhc2JJZk0rMWdNOVZBV3JaT2NaZz09 Meeting ID: 841 8030 1201Passcode: 398444One tap mobile+13126266799,,84180301201#,,,,*398444# US (Chicago)+19292056099,,84180301201#,,,,*398444# US (New York) Dial by your location+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)Meeting ID:…
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Mazon Monday #94: Calamites cistii
Read more: Mazon Monday #94: Calamites cistiiThis is Mazon Monday post #94. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. For this week, we are looking at Calamites, which is a genus of extinct arborescent (tree-like) horsetails. They are sphenopsids. Modern horsetails, genus Equistem, are fairly closely related. Some of these Carboniferous plants could grow to heights of more than 100 feet (30+ meters). Additionally, they were a key component of the forest understory and make a large part of Pennsylvanian coal deposits. There are a few species of Calamites known in the Mazon Creek biota – including Calamites cistii, . Also, note that while…
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E.O. Wilson’s lifelong passion for ants helped him teach humans about how to live sustainably with nature
Read more: E.O. Wilson’s lifelong passion for ants helped him teach humans about how to live sustainably with natureThe Conversation has a story about E. O. Wilson, who he was and his contributions to the world. Professor of Comparative Zoology at Harvard and a giant in the world of evolutionary biology, Wilson died on December 26th, 2021 at age 92. His biggest message was for conservation of the natural world. E. O. Wilson was an extraordinary scholar in every sense of the word. Back in the 1980s, Milton Stetson, the chair of the biology department at the University of Delaware, told me that a scientist who makes a single seminal contribution to his or her field has been…
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Paleontologists Identify New Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur
Read more: Paleontologists Identify New Species of Long-Necked DinosaurSciNews has a story about a new species of dinosaur. The new sauropod species is named Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis and it was identified from fossils found about 30 years ago. The animal lived about 155 million years ago during the Late Jurassic Period. All the details can be found in a paper published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleotology. It was a member of the family Mamenchisauridae, a group of sauropod (herbivorous long-necked) dinosaurs known from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Asia and Africa. “These dinosaurs added extra vertebrae to their necks to elongate them, and in addition to this made…
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Fossil Friday #90: Asterophyllites equisetiformis
Read more: Fossil Friday #90: Asterophyllites equisetiformisThis is the “Fossil Friday” post #90. 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 is a specimen of Asterophyllites equisetiformis. A. equisetiformis is an extinct form of horsetail, related to Annularia. This particular fossil was found by Jim Konecny in the 1960’s. Jim was president of ESCONI in 1966. He was a prolific fossil collector and has two Mazon Creek species named for him…
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Throwback Thursday #92: Looking Back at ESCONI for January 2022
Read more: Throwback Thursday #92: Looking Back at ESCONI for January 2022This is Throwback Thursday #92. 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 – January 1997 50 Years Ago – January 1972 70 Years Ago – January 1952
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10 coolest non-dinosaur fossils unearthed in 2021
Read more: 10 coolest non-dinosaur fossils unearthed in 2021There are many posts recapping 2021 out there… LiveScience has one about 10 coolest non-dinosaur fossil discoveries of 2021. Mazon Creek made the list with the discovery of a fossilized arachnid brain.
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Trilobite Tuesday #36: 7th International Conference on Trilobites & Their Relatives – Cincinnati July 14th to 18th, 2022
Read more: Trilobite Tuesday #36: 7th International Conference on Trilobites & Their Relatives – Cincinnati July 14th to 18th, 2022The Cincinnati Museum Center is sponsoring the 7th International Conference on Trilobites & Their Relatives from July 14th to 18th, 2022. There are field trips both before and after the conference. A Warm Welcome! Welcome to the 7th International Conference on Trilobites & Their Relatives to be held at Cincinnati Museum Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A, July 14 to 18, 2022. We look forward to hosting participants from all corners of the globe in our iconic 1933 Art Deco Train Station, Union Terminal. To learn more about the history and architecture of this national historic landmark, pleased click here. This international…
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Mazon Monday #93: Dr. Victoria McCoy: Mazon Creek Fossils
Read more: Mazon Monday #93: Dr. Victoria McCoy: Mazon Creek FossilsThis is Mazon Monday post #93. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. ESCONI member Ralph Jewell sent me this link for a video of a presentation by Dr. Victoria McCoy of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Department of Geosciences. Her presentation is entitled “Mazon Creek Fossils”. Dr. Victoria McCoy, UWM Department of Geosciences, discusses the Mazon Creek Lagerstätte: A diverse late Paleozoic ecosystem entombed within siderite concretions during the Fall Colloquium, Dec. 6, 2021. Victoria has been active in Mazon Creek research. You might remember her as lead author on a study of the Tully Monster…
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Human-size ammonites swam the Atlantic Ocean 80 million years ago
Read more: Human-size ammonites swam the Atlantic Ocean 80 million years agoLiveScience has a story about some truly large ammonites. About 80 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period, six foot ammonites lived in the Atlantic Ocean. A new study published in the journal PLOS One looked at the evolutionary history of these massive cephalopods. They looked at 154 specimens (!), including 100 newly found specimens from England and Mexico. About 80 million years ago, human-size sea creatures with tentacle-like arms and coiled shells up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) wide glided through the Atlantic Ocean, a new study reveals. These creatures were the world’s largest ammonites, a group of shelled cephalopods that…
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The Top Ten Dinosaur Discoveries of 2021
Read more: The Top Ten Dinosaur Discoveries of 2021Smithsonian Magazine has a story about the top dinosaurs discoveries in 2021. 42 new species were described. That’s a good year! There’s never been a better time to be a dinosaur fan. New species are being described at a fast-and-furious pace, with 42 species named just this year, and paleontologists have also been investigating and arguing about everything from patterns of dinosaur evolution to the ethics of fossil collecting. This year’s finds help set up the studies and debates that we’ll be sure to see in the years ahead, and these are some of the most important dinosaur-focused stories that…
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Fossil Friday #89: Green Bay Cystoid
Read more: Fossil Friday #89: Green Bay CystoidThis is the “Fossil Friday” post #89. 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 crinoid from Green Bay, Wisconsin is up for today’s post. Too bad there isn’t a green and gold G on the side of it! This absolutely stunning example of Pleuocystites squamosus comes from ESCONI member Dan Damrow. P. squalmosus is a cystoid. Cystoids are related to crinoids and blastoids. They went…
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Throwback Thursday #91: Winter Collecting 1963
Read more: Throwback Thursday #91: Winter Collecting 1963This is Throwback Thursday #91. 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! The snow this week had me looking through the newsletters looking for a winter field trips. Many of us have collected in extreme winter weather conditions. I personally have been out in pretty cold weather, say low 20’s in November with thunder snow. We already posted on a field trip to a Lemont quarry on November 19th, 1950 in Throwback Thursday #41. …
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ESCONI Funds Paleontological Society Student Research Grants
Read more: ESCONI Funds Paleontological Society Student Research GrantsESCONI is providing funds for Student Research Grants administered by the Paleontological Society. The club’s support will cover one grant for each of the next three years, 2022 through 2024. Any undergraduate or graduate student conducting research in paleontology can apply. For the ESCONI grants, priority will be given to projects involving the Paleozoic of the Midwest. More information can be found at https://www.paleosoc.org/paleontological-society-student-research-grants
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ESCONI Events January 2022
Read more: ESCONI Events January 2022Welcome back! Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings! Sat, Jan 8th ESCONI Junior Meeting – 7:00 PM Zoom – Topic: “Rocking on the Computer” Specifics of this meeting are available from Scott Galloway, 630-670-2591, gallowayscottf@gmail.com. Contact Scott to get the Zoom link to attend the virtual meeting and find out how to join the Juniors Club. Fri, Jan 14th ESCONI General Meeting 8:00 PM Zoom – Topic: “Through the Ages: How we Date Rocks and Geologic Processes” by Dr. Alyssa Abbey from California State University Long Beach. Zoom link Sat, Jan 15th ESCONI Paleontology Meeting…
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Trilobite Tuesday #35: Ceraurinus icarus
Read more: Trilobite Tuesday #35: Ceraurinus icarusHow about a Trilobite Tuesday post? Here is a rare species of trilobite from Indiana, Ceraurinus icarus. This specimen is from the Whitewater Formation in Union Co., Indiana. The pictures were contributed by Dan Damrow. Thanks, Dan! Awesome trilobite!
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Mazon Monday #92: Illilepas damrowi
Read more: Mazon Monday #92: Illilepas damrowiThis is Mazon Monday post #92. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Illilepas damrowi is a gooseneck barnacle from the Mazon Creek biota, found in Essex localities like Pit 11. Barnacles are crustaceans thus they are related to crabs and lobsters. They are fairly rare in the fossil record with the oldest known from the Middle Cambrian about 510 million years ago. I. damrowi was described by Frederick Schram in 1975. It is named for ESCONI member Dan Damrow, whom you might remember from his Rib River Fossil booth at ESCONI shows for many years. Originally,…
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Breathtaking Fossil of Baby Dinosaur Tucked in Its Egg Yields New Evolutionary Clues
Read more: Breathtaking Fossil of Baby Dinosaur Tucked in Its Egg Yields New Evolutionary CluesNature’s Science Alert has a story about a stunning dinosaur fossil. Found in China, a oviraptor egg has a baby dinosaur preserved in breathtaking detail. The egg dates to between 72 and 66 million years ago. The fossil was described in a paper in the journal iScience. A rare and exquisitely preserved dinosaur embryo tucked inside an egg like a baby bird has been unearthed in southern China, providing an “unprecedented glimpse” into dinosaur development. With a posture that resembles modern bird embryos close to hatching, the fossilized embryo is a remarkable find which raises the possibility that evolutionary links…
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Merry Christmas from ESCONI… Just in Time for Christmas: Knitwear Fit for a T. Rex!
Read more: Merry Christmas from ESCONI… Just in Time for Christmas: Knitwear Fit for a T. Rex!Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London New York Times has a story about a T-rex with an ugly sweater… go ahead you tell him that! The animatronic replica resides in the Natural History Museum in London. Behold the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex — all swaddled in a cozy Christmas sweater. The replica T. rex at the Natural History Museum in London is an enormous, ferocious-looking beast that was built to scale, standing about 60 percent the size of the 40-foot-long prehistoric creature. The animatronic attraction, which features roaring sound effects, often startles visitors, but on Monday, the predatory edge was somewhat softened…
ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show
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- Fossil Friday #314: Kellibrooksia macrogaster
For today’s fossil, we have a beautiful specimen of Kellibrooksia macrogaster, which was a species of mantis shrimp (see Mazon Monday #105). This rare animal was described by Frederick Schram in 1973. It was named in honor of Harold Kelly Brooks, who published the first well-illustrated modern account of Mazon Creek crustaceans. A pdf of his work is available. Have a look as it has some amazing illustrations! This contribution comes from Alan Keith. Alan is a very serious Mazon Creek collector. He travels up here from Texas multiple times each year to collect concretions he can process back home. Thanks for sharing, Alan!
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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 |