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Throwback Thursday #183: Braidwood Historical Society
Read more: Throwback Thursday #183: Braidwood Historical SocietyThis is Throwback Thursday #183. 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! While doing some research on the area, I stopped by the Braidwood Area Historical Society last Saturday. I met Ed Bunting and Carida Davis, who are super knowledgeable and very helpful. They can answer any question you throw at them! Ed is a photographer. Here, he is holding a photo of himself from a few years ago. Close up of a younger version…
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Happy National Fossil Day 2023!!!
Read more: Happy National Fossil Day 2023!!!Go to the official website by the National Park Service. The theme this year is “The Rise of Ancient Life in our National Parks and Monuments”. The official poster is shown above. During 2023 we celebrate the 14th Anniversary of National Fossil Day! Join paleontologists, educators, and students in fossil-related events and activities across the country in parks, classrooms, and online during National Fossil Day. National Fossil Day is an annual celebration held to highlight the scientific and educational value of paleontology and the importance of preserving fossils for future generations. Learn more, Dig 20 Ideas Inspired by National Fossil Day.
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ESCONI October 2023 General Meeting – Friday, October 13th, 2023 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – “Microfossils to Mosasaurs: A Journey Through the University of Iowa Paleontology Repository”
Read more: ESCONI October 2023 General Meeting – Friday, October 13th, 2023 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – “Microfossils to Mosasaurs: A Journey Through the University of Iowa Paleontology Repository”The speaker at the ESCONI October 2023 General Meeting is Tiffany Adrain, who works as the Paleontology Repository Collections Manager at the University of Iowa. The topic of her presentation is “Microfossils to Mosasaurs: A Journey Through the University of Iowa Paleontology Repository”. The meeting will be held on Friday, October 13th, 2023 at 08:00 PM CDT. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87602499516?pwd=K29uSkdBZzA0ZUUvN0gxZWdtd3BWdz09 Meeting ID: 876 0249 9516 Passcode: 394578 One tap mobile +13092053325,,87602499516#,,,,*394578# US +13126266799,,87602499516#,,,,*394578# US (Chicago) Dial by your location Meeting ID: 876 0249 9516 Passcode: 394578 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kBv1GlOA5
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Mazon Monday #185: The Naming of the Tully Monster
Read more: Mazon Monday #185: The Naming of the Tully MonsterThis is Mazon Monday post #185. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The Tully Monster was named the state fossil in 1989. Unfortunately, this was about two years after Francis Tully, its namesake, had passed away. The following article appeared in the April 1989 edition of the ESCONI newsletter. It was written by Jim and Sylvia Konecny. Jim was president of ESCONI in 1966 and 1967. Both, he an Sylvia were very active in ESCONI from the early 1960’s until the 1970’s. After they moved to Prescott, AZ in 1974, they continued to participate by writing…
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Mazon Creek Fossil Day, October 14th, 2023, 10 AM to 3 PM, Coal City Public Library
Read more: Mazon Creek Fossil Day, October 14th, 2023, 10 AM to 3 PM, Coal City Public LibraryJOIN US FOR MAZON CREEK FOSSIL DAY Coal City Public LibraryOctober 14, 202310 AM to 3 PM Displays of Mazon Creek FossilsIdentification of Mazon Creek FossilsBooks on Mazon Creek Fossils for saleLecture on collecting Mazon CreekFossils at 1 PM Download Flyer Presented by ESCONI (Earth Science Club ofNorthern Illinois) and the Carbon Hill SchoolMuseum
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New ‘Giant’ Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur Discovered in Spain
Read more: New ‘Giant’ Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur Discovered in SpainSmithsonian Magazine has a story about the discovery of a new sauropod dinosaur. The dinosaur, Garumbatitan morellensis, lived about 122 million years ago, which is the Cretaceous Period. The specimen was found near Morella in eastern Spain, which is part of the species name. The new animal was described in the journal Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. A team of Spanish and Portuguese paleontologists uncovered G. morellensis’ remains while working at the Sant Antoni de la Vespa fossil site between 2005 and 2008. The region, which is located near the city of Morella in eastern Spain, has produced numerous dinosaur fossils.…
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Fossil Friday #181: Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri
Read more: Fossil Friday #181: Macroneuropteris scheuchzeriThis is the “Fossil Friday” post #181. 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 rather nice Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri, which is a seed fern from Mazon Creek. It comes from the Wilbert Rath collection. He was an active ESCONI member during the 1950’s and 1960’s. This fossil was collected from the Dresden Lakes locality. Dresden Lakes was known for large size and…
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Throwback Thursday #182: Looking Back At ESCONI for October 2023
Read more: Throwback Thursday #182: Looking Back At ESCONI for October 2023This is Throwback Thursday #182. 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 – October 1998 50 Years Ago – October 1973 70 Years Ago – October 1953
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Wonderful Early Silurian Life
Read more: Wonderful Early Silurian LifeSci-News has a story about interesting new fossils from Wisconsin. The Waukesha Biota, a Silurian lagerstatten located near Milwaukee, dates to about 437 million years ago. The deposit preserves an ancient tidal lagoon. The fossils are found in a fine-grained mudstone known as the Brandon Bridge Formation. The locality and its fauna are described in a paper in the journal Geology Today. Microbial mats (cyanobacteria), algae, sponges, conulariids (possibly related to jellyfish), graptolites, worms (polychaetes and palaeoscolecids), an orthocone nautiloid, a rare conodont animal (only the second complete example of this lamprey-like animal in the world) and a lobopodian also occur. A…
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ESCONI Events October 2023
Read more: ESCONI Events October 2023Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings! Fri, Oct 13th ESCONI General Meeting 8:00 PM – Topic: “Microfossils to Mosasaurs: a Journey Through the University of Iowa Paleontology Repository” by Tiffany Adrain, University of Iowa Paleontology Repository Collections Manager Zoom link Sat, Oct 14th ESCONI Junior Meeting – 6:30 PM at College of DuPage – Topic: “Mineral Identification” 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 Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038A (Map). Sat, Oct 14th ESCONI Mazon Creek Fossil Day –…
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Trilobite Tuesday #46: Trilobite’s last meal
Read more: Trilobite Tuesday #46: Trilobite’s last mealCBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks show has a segment about a trilobite’s last meal. The trilobite specimen, Bohemolichas incola, was found in a 465 million year old (Ordovician Period) shale deposit. A 465 million year old trilobite fossil with remarkably preserved gut contents reveals for the first time what these extinct arthropods ate. Per Ahlberg, a paleontologist at Uppsala University in Sweden found hundreds of shell fragments from a variety of animals crushed up in the digestive tract. The research suggests this three centimetre long trilobite ate indiscriminately as it moved along the sea floor. His study was published in Nature. More…
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Mazon Monday #184: Historic Collectors – L.E. Daniels
Read more: Mazon Monday #184: Historic Collectors – L.E. DanielsThis is Mazon Monday post #184. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Lorenzo Eugene Daniels was a Farmer, Sheriff of Grundy County, IL, Assistant State Geologist, Indiana, and an Amateur Conchologist. He was born in Mazon, Illinois on March 4th 1852. In the scientific literature of the time, he is referred to as L.E. Daniels. He was a prolific fossil collector with a keen interest in midwestern mollusks. Upon his death in Chicago in 1918, his huge collection of land and freshwater shells was purchased by Bryant Walker of Detroit for the Museum of Zoology at…
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Fossil of a ‘Giant’ Trapdoor Spider Found in Australia, And Just Look at It!
Read more: Fossil of a ‘Giant’ Trapdoor Spider Found in Australia, And Just Look at It!Science Alert has a story about a spider fossil from Australia. This new species of spider, Megamonodontium mccluskyi, dates to the Miocene, which lasted from 11 to 16 million years ago. The fossil was found in a locality called McGraths Flat located in a grassland in New South Wales. McGraths Flat is classified as a Lagerstätte due to the exceptional fossil preservation known from the area. The fossil spider was described in the journal Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. “Only four spider fossils have ever been found throughout the whole continent, which has made it difficult for scientists to…
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PBS Eons: You’re Living On An Ant Planet
Read more: PBS Eons: You’re Living On An Ant PlanetPBS Eons has a new episode over on Youtube. We are all living on an ant world…. How did ants take over the world? Well, it looks like they didn’t achieve world domination all by themselves. They may have just been riding the wave of a totally different evolutionary explosion.
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Fossil Friday #180: Acanthotelson stimpsoni
Read more: Fossil Friday #180: Acanthotelson stimpsoniThis is the “Fossil Friday” post #180. 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 sweet little Acanthotelson stimpsoni from ESCONI member Jake Fill. It’s fairly fresh, having just recently opened. Acanthotelson stimpsoni was described by Fielding Bradford Meek and Amos Henry Worthen way back in 1865. It was named for William Stimpson, who worked at the Smithsonian Institution and was later…
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ESCONI Field Trip to Vulcan Manteno Quarry on Saturday, October 28th, 2023 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Read more: ESCONI Field Trip to Vulcan Manteno Quarry on Saturday, October 28th, 2023 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PMThis trip is full! A waiting list is being kept. There will be an ESCONI Field Trip to the Vulcan Manteno Quarry on Saturday October 28, 2023 from 9 AM to 12 noon. We last visited this location in 2018. The rock there is Silurian dolomite. The quarry is located at 6141 Highway 50, Manteno, Illinois. The rules are shown below: You should be able to find this quarry by searching on “6141 IL 50 Manteno” in Google. That will provide a map and satellite view. If there is a need to cancel (like for weather) I will send out…
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Throwback Thursday #181: Science News from September 1970
Read more: Throwback Thursday #181: Science News from September 1970This is Throwback Thursday #181. 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! Here are a few science stories from the newsletter for September 1970. All the stories were submitted by ESCONI members. DOWNSTATE ILLINOIS–by Diane Dare GALLATIN COUNTY: The Old Slave House, or Hickory Hill Mansion, was owned by one of the men who became wealthy operating government- owned salt works. The house was built in 1834 nine miles west of Shawneetown in Gallatin County.…
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Mystery of ‘living fossil’ tree frozen in time for 66 million years finally solved
Read more: Mystery of ‘living fossil’ tree frozen in time for 66 million years finally solvedLive Science has a story about the Wollemi pine. Thought extinct, the Wollemi pine was “rediscovered” in 1994 by some hikers near Sydney, Australia. Wollemia nobilis is pretty much unchanged since the Cretaceous Peiod. A group of scientists from Australia, the US, and Italy have recently published the plant’s genome. The genome gives insight into both its evolution and unique reproduction, which is mostly through self cloning. The pine has 26 chromosomes — containing a staggering 12.2 billion base pairs. In comparison, humans have only around 3 billion base pairs. Despite the size of their genome, Wollemi pines are extremely low in…
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Trilobite Tuesday #45: Taphonomy of non-biomineralized trilobite tissues preserved as calcite casts from the Ordovician Walcott-Rust Quarry, USA
Read more: Trilobite Tuesday #45: Taphonomy of non-biomineralized trilobite tissues preserved as calcite casts from the Ordovician Walcott-Rust Quarry, USANature’s journal communication Earth & environment has a paper about the preservation of trilobites in the Wolcott-Rust quarry. The Walcott-Rust quarry was discovered by Charles Wolcott in the 1870’s. It dates to the Ordovician Period and yielded the first known trilobite appendages. This paper details research into the mechanism of the delicate, three dimensional preservation. Abstract Trilobites with appendages from the Rust Formation of New York State were discovered in the 1870s and represent one of the earliest known cases of exceptional preservation of non-biomineralized tissues. The Rust Formation trilobites feature three-dimensionally preserved walking legs and delicate respiratory lamellae, but…
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Mazon Monday #183: Sphenopteris plicata
Read more: Mazon Monday #183: Sphenopteris plicataThis is Mazon Monday post #183. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Sphenopteris plicata was described by Leo Lesquereux in 1858. Lesquereux (1806 – 1889) described much of the North American Carboniferous flora in the mid 1800’s as a consultant to various US state geological surveys. His book “Atlas to the Coal Flora of Pennsylvania and the Carboniferous Formation throughout the United States” written from 1879 to 1884 was the standard reference for the Carboniferous flora in the US for many years. From George’s Basement Sphenopteris plicata was appeared on page 148 of Jack Wittry’s “A…
ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show
Most Recent Post
- Throwback Thursday #312: Ron Schinderle Donation
Barb Schinderle stopped by ESCONI Show last month to drop off a donation of her late husband Ron’s fossils. Ron passed away in 2021. He was a long time ESCONI member and an avid fossil collector . He went on many ESCONI field trips. A group of us remember him fondly from our many trips to Pit 11 and Fossil Rock Campgrounds to collect Mazon Creek fossils.
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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 |