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ESCONI Flashback Friday #41: George Langford Night 1958
Read more: ESCONI Flashback Friday #41: George Langford Night 1958As part of the celebration of ESCONI’s 70th Anniversary, here is Flashback Friday post #41. If you have pictures or stories to contribute, please send them over to esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! The release of the first Langford book, “The Wilmington Coal Flora from a Pennsylvannian Deposit in Will County, Illinois”, occurred in June 1958. On June 13, 1958, ESCONI celebrated “George Langford Night”. He was 82 years old and held the title of “Curator of Fossil Plants” at the Field Museum. The second book was published in June 1963. The celebration continue the following weekend for the Midwest Federation Conference, which…
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2020 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show March 21st and March 22nd – Preview #3, Museum Displays #dinosaurs #fossils @FieldMuseum @BurpeeMuseum @LizzadroMuseum
Read more: 2020 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show March 21st and March 22nd – Preview #3, Museum Displays #dinosaurs #fossils @FieldMuseum @BurpeeMuseum @LizzadroMuseumThis is the preview post #3 for the 2020 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show. The show is on March 21st and March 22nd, 2020. Show details can be found here. The skull of the Burpee Museum’s Baby Triceratops Homer will be at the show. Additionally, there will be awesome displays by the Field Museum and the Lizzadro Museum. Homer at the Burpee Museum Field Museum display from 2019
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Phys.org: Meet T-Rex’s older cousin: The Reaper of Death
Read more: Phys.org: Meet T-Rex’s older cousin: The Reaper of DeathPhys.org has a story about a new tyrannosaur. This one is called Thanatotheristes degrootorum, Greek for “Reaper of Death”. It lived some 80 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Periond, in what is now Canada. Details were published recently in the journal Cretaceous Research. “We chose a name that embodies what this tyrannosaur was as the only known large apex predator of its time in Canada, the reaper of death,” Darla Zelenitsky, assistant professor of Dinosaur Palaeobiology at Canada’s University of Calgary. “The nickname has come to be Thanatos,” she told AFP. Whereas T-Rex—the most famous of all dinosaur species, immortalised…
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MAPS 2020 – “The Ordovician Period” April 17th – 19th, 2020
Read more: MAPS 2020 – “The Ordovician Period” April 17th – 19th, 2020MAPS 2020 will be held Friday April 17th-19th, 2020. The Digest Editors are calling for papers to be included in the EXPO Edition of the Digest. The theme for EXPO XLII is The Ordovician Period. MAPS EXPO: Only fossil/fossil-related material may be displayed/sold Friday April 17: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Saturday April 18: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Sunday April 19: 8:00 am to 3:00 pm HOTEL SHOW: Fossils, minerals, gems, jewelry, etc. may be displayed/sold Wednesday April 15: 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm Thursday April 16: 10:00 am to 9:00 pm Friday April 17: 6:00 pm to 9:00…
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Battle-scarred fossils suggest giant turtles fought each other—and crocodiles three times their size
Read more: Battle-scarred fossils suggest giant turtles fought each other—and crocodiles three times their sizeScience Magazine has a story about the discovery of some giant turtle fossils in Columbia and Venezuela. The turtles, called Stupendemys geographicus, lived about 12 million years ago. Males weighed about 1100 kilograms. These new fossils show they bore unusual large horns off the front of their shells, which they probably used to battle with each other. All the details can be found in a paper which appeared in the Journal Science Advances. This is the first time such horned remains have been found, even though the species was first described in 1976. At the time, scientists had uncovered only…
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PBS Eons: A Short Tale About Diplodocus’ Long Neck
Read more: PBS Eons: A Short Tale About Diplodocus’ Long NeckPBS Eons has a new episode up over on Youtube. This one is about Diplodocus and its long neck. Long necks gave sauropods a huge advantage when it came to food, but not in the way you think. And this benefit would allow them to become the biggest terrestrial animals of all time!
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Lizzadro: Jack Wittry on “Sharks at Mazon Creek” – March 14th, 2020
Read more: Lizzadro: Jack Wittry on “Sharks at Mazon Creek” – March 14th, 2020Jack Wittry will be giving a lecture called “Sharks at Mazon Creek” at the Lizzadro Museum on March 14th, 2020 at 3:00 PM. Jack Wittry, Collections Associate at the Field Museum and author of the Mazon Creek Fossil Flora and Fauna books, presents the Mazon Creek fossil shark nurseries and discusses the controversy surrounding this topic. His new book on Mazon Creek plants will be available for signing after the lecture. 60 minutes – Youth to Adult Regular Museum Admission; Museum Members Free Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art Phone: 630-833-1616 Website: https://lizzadromuseum.org Address: 1220 Kensington Road, Oak Brook, IL 60523
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The Books Are In! The Books Are In!
Read more: The Books Are In! The Books Are In!Jack Wittry’s new book “A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek” has been delivered. We sold the first copies last night at the general meeting. The books should be available at upcoming ESCONI events, Paleofest at the Burpee Museum, MAPS, and of course, at our show March 21st and 22nd, 2020. Jack was available to autograph the books last night. Jack will be at the Lizzadro Muesum on March 14th, 2020 for a lecture on Mazon Creek shark nurseries and the controvery surrounding the topic. His new book will be available for signing after the lecture. The…
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ESCONI Flashback Friday #40: Lemont Quarry 1952
Read more: ESCONI Flashback Friday #40: Lemont Quarry 1952As part of the celebration of ESCONI’s 70th Anniversary, here is Flashback Friday post #40. If you have pictures or stories to contribute, please send them over to esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! Here are pictures to a quarry in Lemont, IL in 1952. The Lemont quarries were known for the diversity of the trilobites that could be found. The one pictured below in Calymene celebra, which is the State Fossil of Wisconsin.
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2020 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show March 21st and March 22nd – Preview #2, Galena from Missouri #minerals
Read more: 2020 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show March 21st and March 22nd – Preview #2, Galena from Missouri #mineralsThis is the preview post #2 for the 2020 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The show is on March 21st and March 22nd, 2020. All details can be found here. This is an absolutely stunning piece of Galena from the Brushy Creek Mine, Viburnum Trend, in Reynolds Co., Missouri, USA. The picture does not do this piece justice!
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Happy Darwin Day 2020! @DarwinDayAHA
Read more: Happy Darwin Day 2020! @DarwinDayAHAToday is Darwin Day 2020!
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AMNH: Happy Birthday Barnum Brown… Discoverer of T-rex
Read more: AMNH: Happy Birthday Barnum Brown… Discoverer of T-rexHappy Birthday, Barnum Brown! Known as one of the greatest dinosaur collectors of all time, Barnum Brown helped the American Museum of Natural History establish its world-class fossil collection. Brown’s extraordinary fossil-hunting career—which took him from a frontier farm to the world’s top fossil sites and to the halls of the Museum—included the discovery of the first skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus rex.
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Reminder: ESCONI General Meeting for February 14th, 2020 “Worked Stones and Gold of the Ancient Tayrona of Santa Marta, Colombia” by Ellen Steinberg, Ph.D
Read more: Reminder: ESCONI General Meeting for February 14th, 2020 “Worked Stones and Gold of the Ancient Tayrona of Santa Marta, Colombia” by Ellen Steinberg, Ph.DThe program at our February 14th, 2020 meeting will be presented by Ellen Steinberg, Ph.D. The title of her talk is “Worked Stones and Gold of the Ancient Tayrona of Santa Marta, Colombia”.
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Jaw of 330-Million-Year-Old Shark Discovered in Kentucky Cave
Read more: Jaw of 330-Million-Year-Old Shark Discovered in Kentucky CaveThe Smithsonian Magazine has a article about the accidental discovery of a fossil shark in Mammoth Cave. The shark, Savivodus striatus, lived during the late Mississippian Period, about 330 million years ago. This shark was probably about 20 feet long, but are known to be more than 30 feet long. n November 2019, paleontologist John-Paul Hodnett found himself crawling through the winding hollows of Mammoth Cave National Park, toward a remote site that he suspected to hold a prehistoric treasure. Hodnett had recently been sent photos, taken by Mammoth Cave scientists Rick Olson and Rick Toomey, that appeared to show fossilized…
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PBS Eons: How South America Made the Marsupials
Read more: PBS Eons: How South America Made the MarsupialsPBS Eons has a new video. This one is about the marsupials of South America. Throughout the Cenozoic Era — the era we’re in now — marsupials and their metatherian relatives flourished all over South America, filling all kinds of ecological niches and radiating into forms that still thrive on other continents.
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ESCONI Flashback Friday #39: Poem from November 1950
Read more: ESCONI Flashback Friday #39: Poem from November 1950As part of the celebration of ESCONI’s 70th Anniversary, here is Flashback Friday post #39. If you have pictures or stories to contribute, please send them over to esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! Here is a poem that appeared in the November 1950 edition of the ESCONI newsletter. It was written by Peggy Allaway, daughter of Bill Allaway, who was the first President of ESCONI. It seems they were very serious about collecting… getting up early, staying out all day, getting back late, and then staying up even later. This sounds very familiar! I can’t wait for Spring and trips to Pit 11! …
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2020 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show March 21st and March 22nd – Preview #1, Mazon Creek Plant – Alethopteris sullivanti
Read more: 2020 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show March 21st and March 22nd – Preview #1, Mazon Creek Plant – Alethopteris sullivantiThis is the first preview post for the 2020 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The show is on March 21st and March 22nd, 2020. All details can be found here. Here is an absolutely gorgeous Alethopteris sullivanti! We have a bunch of very nice specimens of fossils, minerals, and much, much more! Come on out you’ll have a great time… and maybe you can take this fossil home!
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Smithsonian: Pterosaur Tooth Found in Rare Ancient Squid Fossil
Read more: Smithsonian: Pterosaur Tooth Found in Rare Ancient Squid FossilSmithsonian.com has a story about a unique fossil find. About 150 million years ago, there was a hungry pterosaur looking for a meal. It saw an appetizing cephalopod and went for it. Unfortunately, we don’t know if it ate that day, but we do know that this particular bit of calamari got away. The fossil cephalopod, of Plesioteuthis subovata, has an embedded tooth from what is most likely a Rhamphorhynchus muensteri. This composite fossil was discovered in 2012 from a limestone deposit in Bavaria, Germany. Read all the details in a paper in Scientific Reports. Excavated in 2012 from a…
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Remembering Dan Behnke July 31, 1932 – January 20, 2020
Read more: Remembering Dan Behnke July 31, 1932 – January 20, 2020Daniel (Dan) Walter Behnke, 87, of Glenview died January 20, 2020 of Lewy Body Dementia and a stroke. The obituary is here. Dan was an Associate Photographer of both the Mineralogical Record and Rock and Minerals magazines. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Friends of Mineralogy from 1990 to 1993. He served as the Micromount chairman of the Midwest Federation of Mineralogical Societies from 1981 to 1988. At one time, he was an active ESCONI member with a deep interest in photographing microminerals. He served several terms as chairman of the micromount study group of…
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Meet the New Monopoly Tokens: A Rubber Ducky, a T-rex and a Penguin
Read more: Meet the New Monopoly Tokens: A Rubber Ducky, a T-rex and a PenguinApparently, I don’t pay attention to events in the board game world… even when they touch the paleontology world. A co-worker recently made me aware that there is now a T-rex piece in every Monopoly game, which is very cool! This change happened about 3 years ago in 2017. The NY Times even did a story. Basically, people voted and the boot, the thimble, and the wheelbarrow were replaced with a T-rex, a penguin, and a rubber ducky. Did anyone else notice that all the new pieces are technically based on dinosaurs?!! I remember playing Monopoly as a kid and…
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 |