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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #28: Coelocanth Scale from Pit 11
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #28: Coelocanth Scale from Pit 11Here’s beautiful example of a Coelocanth scale Mazon Creek’s Pit 11 locality. Look closely, the preservation is very detailed. Did we mention the tomorrow is the show… see you there!
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #27: Rare Wisconsin Jellyfish from Marathon County, Wisconsin
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #27: Rare Wisconsin Jellyfish from Marathon County, WisconsinJellyfish, which have no hard parts, are very rare in the fossil record. This species Hiemalora stellaris was found in the Cambrian rocks of the Blackberry Hill Deposit of Marathon County, Wisconsin. Come on out tomorrow and it can be yours!
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #26: Azurite from the Daye District, Ezhou Prefecture, Hubei Province, China
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #26: Azurite from the Daye District, Ezhou Prefecture, Hubei Province, ChinaWhat a beautiful blue! The specimen of Azurite hails from the Daye District, Ezhou Prefecture, Hubei Province, China. Less than a day until the door open!
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #25: Calomostachys Cone
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #25: Calomostachys ConeWe have a bunch of Mazon Creek fossils this year… here’s another nice cone – Calomostachys, sp. One day away from the show… are you coming?!?
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #24: Yellow Fluorite from Hardin County, IL
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #24: Yellow Fluorite from Hardin County, ILWe have some real nice pieces of fluorite for this year’s show. Here is a beautiful yellow specimen from Hardin County, IL. Tomorrow is the day… come on out!
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Fossil Friday #309: Acanthotelson stimpsoni
Read more: Fossil Friday #309: Acanthotelson stimpsoniToday, we have a cute little Acanthotelson stimpsoni (see Mazon Monday #52) from the Mazon River. Acanthotelson stimpsoni is a syncarid shrimp. It’s the most common shrimp found in the Braidwood fauna.
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #23: Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri terminal pinnule
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #23: Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri terminal pinnulePreview 23 is a nice terminal end of a Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri from Mazon Creek. To learn more see Mazon Monday #39. Saturday will be here before you know it…
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #22: Valentinite after Stibnite on Barite
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #22: Valentinite after Stibnite on BariteHow about this beautiful specimen of Valentinite after Stibnite on Barite? It was collected from the Xikuangsthan Mine in Lengshuijiang, Hunan Province, China. Come on out and see it close up in less than 2 days!
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #21: Thalassina anomala from Gunn Point, N. T., Australia
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #21: Thalassina anomala from Gunn Point, N. T., AustraliaThe next preview is a fossil mangrove lobster, Thalassina anomala, from Gunn Point, N. T., Australia. This is a very detailed fossil with superb preparation. Come on out and check it out at the show… less than 2 days away!
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #20: Pieces of Mexican Opal
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #20: Pieces of Mexican OpalMexican opal is very beautiful and we have a small collection of pieces here for this preview. Just 2 days left… Hope to see you!
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Throwback Thursday #309: ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 1992
Read more: Throwback Thursday #309: ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 1992ESCONI 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 of DuPage Building K. Meetings were also in Building K for a long time. Floyd Rogers was President of ESCONI.
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #19: Fluorite and Sphalerite
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #19: Fluorite and SphaleriteWe have multiple pieces of beautiful fluorite for this years show. This is one of the best… it has large crystals of fluorite resting on sphalerite. Have I mentioned we are just a few days away from this year’s show?!?
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #18: Lepidostrobus, sp. Cone
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #18: Lepidostrobus, sp. ConeHere’s a beautiful Lepidostrobus, sp. cone (see Mazon Monday #202) from Mazon Creek. These cones were the reproductive organs of lepidodendron trees.
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PBS Eons: Did Ancient Storms Kill These Pterosaurs?
Read more: PBS Eons: Did Ancient Storms Kill These Pterosaurs?PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about the pterosaur diversity of the Solnhofen formation in Germany.
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #17: Wulfenite from Yugoslavia
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #17: Wulfenite from YugoslaviaHow about a beautiful piece of Wulfenite from Mies, Yugoslavia? This is a gorgeous specimen. Come out and see it this Satuday!
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Video for ESCONI March 2026 General Meeting – “Archaeological, Geological, and Other Historic Sites in Portugal”
Read more: Video for ESCONI March 2026 General Meeting – “Archaeological, Geological, and Other Historic Sites in Portugal”Jeffrey Amelse presented “Archeological, Geological, and Other Historic Sites in Portugal”. The meeting was held on March 13th, 2026 at 8:00 PM via Zoom.
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Mazon Monday #313: Mazon Creek Studies – the first 120 years
Read more: Mazon Monday #313: Mazon Creek Studies – the first 120 yearsFor this week, we have an article from the September 1978 edition of the Field Museum’s Bulletin. The full edition, which includes Jaunary thru December, is available on the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) website.
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #16: Calamostachys Cone
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #16: Calamostachys ConeA the rarer side, we have a nice Calamostachys cone for preview #16. Calamostachys was one of the cones of Calamites (see Mazon Monday #99). Less than 6 days left until the show… how quickly time flies!
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2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #15: Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri
Read more: 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #15: Macroneuropteris scheuchzeriFor this preview, we have a beautiful Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri (see Mazon Monday #39). This was collected from one of the Morris localities.
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ESCONI at Burpee Museum’s PaleoFest ’26
Read more: ESCONI at Burpee Museum’s PaleoFest ’26ESCONI was at PaleoFest ’26 last week. Joseph Bruno put together this nice little video. Ready for the paleo hordes! Here everyone is waiting on the Keynote Speaker, Jingmai O’Connor. Finn Lutz discussing his informative display. Scott teaching some earth science… Remember, Burpee is home of Jane the Nanotyrannus and they have other dinosaurs! See you next year!





















