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Throwback Thursday #134: Field Trip Bevel Granite 1957
Read more: Throwback Thursday #134: Field Trip Bevel Granite 1957This is Throwback Thursday #134. 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! Back in 1957, ESCONI held a field trip to the Bevel Granite Company on Kedzie Ave. in Merrionette Park, IL. Guess what, they are still there! The field trip was announced in the March 1957 edition of the ESCONI newsletter. FIELD TRIP—————– 10:00 A.M. Saturday, March 16th BEVEL GRANITE CO., 11849 So. Kedzie To study the art of monument making Please register on or…
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NYT: First Known Family of Neanderthals Found in Russian Cave
Read more: NYT: First Known Family of Neanderthals Found in Russian CaveCarl Zimmer’s Matter column over at the New York Times has an interesting article about Neanderthals. Analysis of ancient DNA of Neanderthal bones from a cave in Siberia has led researchers to believe they have found a family unit consisting of a father, daughter, and multiple cousins. The bones were discovered in 2007 with a large trove of stone tools and butchered bison bones. The research was published in the journal Nature by a team that included Svante Pääbo, who recently won the Noble Prize for his work on ancient DNA. The study was carried out by a team of…
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Fossils Upend Conventional Wisdom about Evolution of Human Bipedalism
Read more: Fossils Upend Conventional Wisdom about Evolution of Human BipedalismScientific American has a story about the evolution of human bipedalism. Paleontologists have long wondered when humans stood up and walked on two legs. There are skeletal adaptions in the fossils of the oldest hominins, which date to as much as seven million years ago. In the iconic representation of human evolution, a procession of ancestors starting with a chimplike creature ambling on all fours gives way to a series of ever more erect forebears, culminating in a fully upright Homo sapiens striding triumphantly on two legs. First popularized in the 1960s, the March of Progress, as this image and its variants…
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Mazon Monday #135: McLuckie Collection Donated to the Smithsonian in 1990
Read more: Mazon Monday #135: McLuckie Collection Donated to the Smithsonian in 1990This is Mazon Monday post #135. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! —————————————————– The collection of John and Lucy McLuckie, who we’ve covered a few times in Throwback Thursday #55, Throwback Thursday #104, and Flashback Friday #29, was donated to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C in 1990. It was a very valuable collection of over 2,500 Mazon Creek fossils. It was collected for many years by both John and his wife Lucy. John started collecting during the 1930’s when he worked in the strip mines around Coal City, Braidwood, and Wilmington,…
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ESCONI at MAPS 2022
Read more: ESCONI at MAPS 2022The MAPS National Fossil Exposition was held from October 21st to 23rd, 2022. Quite a few of the usual ESCONI members attended MAPS this weekend. Some were even selling fossils. ESCONI’s own John Catalani gave the keynote about the Dixon Lagerstatten. Ralph Jewel has an informative thread over on the Fossil Forum. Check it out…
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PBS Eons: Darwin Missed An Example of Evolution Right Under His Nose
Read more: PBS Eons: Darwin Missed An Example of Evolution Right Under His NosePBS Eons has a new episode. This one discusses some evidence of evolution that was missed by Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin encountered a tiny fox-like creature during his famous voyage but instead of discovering its fascinating evolutionary story, he just knocked it on the head with his geology hammer.
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Fossil Friday #131: Tully Monster!
Read more: Fossil Friday #131: Tully Monster!This is “Fossil Friday” post #131. 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! Who doesn’t love a Tully Monster?… especially a stunning one?!? This Tully was found in Pit 11 by ESCONI member Gary Crouse, He showed it to me at the Mazon Creek Open House and I just couldn’t resist getting a photo for Fossil Friday. Just in case you are new to Mazon Creek…
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Throwback Thursday #133: To a Fossil
Read more: Throwback Thursday #133: To a FossilThis is Throwback Thursday #133. 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! For this week’s Throwback Thursday, we have a nice little poem called “To a Fossil” from the May 1984 edition of the ESCONI newsletter. The poem is attributed to Donna Dempsey. No other information is available about Donna. Please let us know if you know of her and how she was involved with ESCONI. To a Fossil Small Creature,who lived long agobeneath a…
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MAPS 2022 “Lagerstatten” – October 21-23, 2022, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, IL
Read more: MAPS 2022 “Lagerstatten” – October 21-23, 2022, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, ILThe MAPS show is this weekend in Springfield, IL. It’s always a great show! Make sure you don’t miss it! The MAPS show will be held from October 21nd to 23rd, 2022 in Springfield, IL. DATES: October 21-23, 2022. LOCATION: EXPO XLIII will be held at the Orr Building located on the Illinois State Fairgrounds, 801 E Sangamon Ave., Springfield, Illinois (see Map p. 5). This facility has approx. 39,000 sq ft of floor space and is heated and air conditioned with restrooms and a finished kitchen. It is complete with two overhead doors and a loading dock for easy entry. Additionally,…
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Video for the ESCONI September 2022 General Meeting – “Paleozoic fishes of the Illinois Basin”
Read more: Video for the ESCONI September 2022 General Meeting – “Paleozoic fishes of the Illinois Basin”The September 2022 General Meeting was held on Friday, September 9th, 2022. The presenter was Dr. Ryan Shell of the Cincinnati Museum Center. The title of his talk was “Paleozoic fishes of the Illinois Basin”. Dr. Shell is a research associate in the department of vertebrate paleontology at the Cincinnati Museum Center and a Paleontological Resources Assistant at the United States Forest Service. He does research in paleontology, systematics, taxonomy, biostratigraphy and biogeography. Topic: Paleozoic fishes of the Illinois BasinPresented By: Dr. Ryan Shell
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Mazon Monday #134: 2022 Mazon Creek Open House Report With Videos
Read more: Mazon Monday #134: 2022 Mazon Creek Open House Report With VideosThis is Mazon Monday post #134. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! The 2022 Mazon Creek Open House was held on Saturday, October 15th, 2022 at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, IL. It was a rousing success! We had around 100 visitors throughout the day. There was plenty to talk about as we had three display cases of fossils – two from the Field Museum, which included the holotype for Exessella asherae and one case of fossils from ESCONI members Keith Robitschek, Andy Jansen, and Rich Holm. Here are a few random photos from the day. We…
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Astonishing dinosaur mummy has ‘glittering’ skin that was punctured and ripped by ancient crocs
Read more: Astonishing dinosaur mummy has ‘glittering’ skin that was punctured and ripped by ancient crocsLiveScience has a story about “Dakota” a dinosaur mummy from North Dakota. “Dakota”, a duck-billed dinosaur that lived about 67 million years ago in what is now North Dakota, is a mummified dinosaur which exhibits evidence of predatory behavior in its remains. A paper in the journal PLOS One describes this evidence and proposes that dinosaur mummification may be somewhat common. “There used to be an assumption that, in order to get a mummy, you absolutely had to have rapid burial,” meaning the dinosaur would have to be buried almost instantaneously at or near its time of death, said Stephanie…
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ESCONI Mazon Creek Open House October 15, 2022
Read more: ESCONI Mazon Creek Open House October 15, 2022Today is the day! Hope to see you there! The Mazon Creek Open House is October 15th, 2022 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, IL. The Mazon Creek Open House is returning for 2022! If you’ve been a Mazon Creek collector (or even just a passing fan), you may have heard of the Mazon Creek Open House. It was an annual affair, usually held in October at places as varied as the Burpee Museum, the Lizzadro Museum, and even the Elgin Public Library. There were quite a few events in the 1990’s and early 2000’s…
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Fossil Friday #130: Mariopteris nervosa
Read more: Fossil Friday #130: Mariopteris nervosaThis is “Fossil Friday” post #130. 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! Today, we have multiple Mariopteris nervosa seed fern fossils from Ralph Jewell. These are stunning specimens. Mariopteris are fairly rare and usually preserved in 3-D. Ralph recently purchased an amazing collection. He has been documenting it over on the Fossil Forum. Check out his long running and interesting thread. Thanks for sharing, Ralph!
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Throwback Thursday #132: Mazon Creek Open House Videos
Read more: Throwback Thursday #132: Mazon Creek Open House VideosThis is Throwback Thursday #132. 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! Don’t forget the 2022 Mazon Creek Open House this Saturday, October 15th, 2022! Long time ESCONI member Ralph Jewell took videos at some past Open House events in the 1990’s and 2000’s. Thanks, Ralph! It’s very interesting to look back. Here are a few highlights. You’ll see some current members looking very young. I attended the 2006 and 2007 events. Which ones did you attend? …
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Happy National Fossil Day 2022!!!
Read more: Happy National Fossil Day 2022!!!Featuring an Eocene forest in celebration of the 150-year anniversary of Yellowstone National Park and the park’s fossil heritage. Happy National Fossil Day! The National Park Service has a page dedicated to the very special day. There are events scheduled all around the country. ESCONI celebrates fossils every week. Check out our features Mazon Monday, Throwback Thursday, and (of course!) Fossil Friday! Don’t forget the Mazon Creek Open House this Saturday, October 15th, 2022! Celebrate Our Geologic Heritage During 2022 we celebrate the 13th Anniversary of National Fossil Day! Join paleontologists, educators, and students in fossil-related events and activities across…
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‘Sea monsters’ were real millions of years ago. New fossils tell about their rise and fall
Read more: ‘Sea monsters’ were real millions of years ago. New fossils tell about their rise and fallThe Conversation has an article about the latest mosasaur discoveries. Mosasaurs grew to length of 12 meters or more and are related to modern day snakes and lizards. Had they survived, we would be calling them real-life sea monsters. The discovery of a new species, Thalassotitan atrox, lived 66 million years ago right up to the K-Pg mass extinction. It gives a view into the health of the marine ecosystems at the end of the Cretaceous. Sixty six million years ago, sea monsters really existed. They were mosasaurs, huge marine lizards that lived at the same time as the last…
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Mazon Monday #133: Mazon Creek Open House History
Read more: Mazon Monday #133: Mazon Creek Open House HistoryThis is Mazon Monday post #133. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. This post included material provided by Ralph Jewell, John Liskey, and David Duck, Thanks! The Mazon Creek Open House started in the early 1985. It was an extension of the Mazon Creek Project at Eastern Illinois University. We posted about that in Mazon Monday #5. The Mazon Creek Project was a program sponsored by Northeastern Illinois University. Founded in the 1960s, by the late Eugene Richardson Curator of Fossil Invertebrates at the Field Museum in Chicago Illinois. It was originally an attempt to encourage…
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Fossils Reveal Pterosaur Relatives Before They Evolved Wings
Read more: Fossils Reveal Pterosaur Relatives Before They Evolved WingsThe New York Times Trilobites column has a story about pterosaur origins. Paleontologists have long wondered about the evolutionary ancestors of pterosaurs as the animals were most likely small and thus less likely to fossilize. A paper in the journal Nature proposes that Scleromochlus taylori is one of the missing ancestors. It lived about 237 million years ago in what is now northern Scotland. The fossils, which are encased in hard sandstone, were found in the early 1900’s. Few creatures were built to soar like pterosaurs. Tens of millions of years before the earliest birds, these Mesozoic reptiles had pioneered flight with sail-shaped wings and lightweight bones.…
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PBS Eons: Our Ancient Relative That Said ‘No Thanks’ to Life on Land
Read more: PBS Eons: Our Ancient Relative That Said ‘No Thanks’ to Life on LandPBS Eons has a new episode on Youtube. This one is about a particular tetrapod that seems to have returned to the ocean after venturing onto land. Around the time that some of our fishapod relatives were crawling out of the water, others were turning around and diving right back in.
ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show
Most Recent Post
- Fossil Friday #312: Sublepidophloios protuberans with a spray of Cyperites bicarinatus
At first glance, today’s fossil might look like a cone. But, closer examination reveals it to be a nice specimen of Sublepidophloios protuberans with a spray of Cyperites bicarinatus at the top. Sublepidophloios protuberans is a species of lycopsid branch (see Mazon Monday #316) and Cyperites bicarinatus was the sterile leaves for the Lycopsida (see Mazon Monday #69). Lycopsids were giant club mosses that existed during the Carboniferous Period. Lycopsids are still around, just not the giants.
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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 |