Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois

Mazon Creek, Mazon Monday

Mazon Monday #97: “Historical Perspective on Early Twentieth Century Carboniferous Paleobotany in North American”

This is Mazon Monday post #97. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The book “Historical Perspective on Early Twentieth Century Carboniferous Paleobotany in North American” was published in 1995 by the Geological Society of America (GSA). It’s dedicated as a memorial volume for William Culp Darrah (1909-1989), who was a pioneer in the study of the Carboniferous of North America. The book is freely available on Google Books as PDF. Individual chapters cover paleobotanists from North America and a few from Europe with influence in North America. They are written by various authors, quite a few…
Read more: Mazon Monday #97: “Historical Perspective on Early Twentieth Century Carboniferous Paleobotany in North American”
Calendar of Events

PaleoFest 2022 – March 4th – 6th

The Burpee Museum in Rockford, IL is holding PaleoFest 2022 from March 4th – March 6th, 2022. There are many interesting lectures, with topics that span the Pre-Cambrian to the Pleistocene. It’s always a good time! Burpee Museum is once again hosting one of the coolest paleontology festivals in the world. Don’t miss PaleoFest 2022, as we join forces with scientists from around the world and going live on: Join the Fun Dino-lovers, rock collectors, and fossil diggers unite for an internationally attended festival. Our audience includes scientists and researchers, aspiring scientists, students, paleo-lovers, and even dino-loving kiddos! Many of the talks focus…
Read more: PaleoFest 2022 – March 4th – 6th
Around the Web

PBS Eons: How the Rise of Social Insects Shrunk These Dinosaurs

PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about a group of dinosaurs called alvarezsaurs that some researchers think might have eaten insects. We often think of dinosaurs as either preying on other dinos or mammals, or as plant-eaters — but in ecosystems today, those aren’t the only two options. So why would we expect dinosaurs to have only been carnivores or herbivores, with the occasional omnivore thrown in the mix?
Read more: PBS Eons: How the Rise of Social Insects Shrunk These Dinosaurs
Fossil Friday

Fossil Friday #93: Pyritized ammonite fossils from the Jurassic Coast in England

This is the “Fossil Friday” post #93. 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! For this week, we have a tale of both beauty and of woe. It comes to us from long time ESCONI member Marie Angkuw. Her photos of ammonite fossils show the beauty that can be found in fossils. Unfortunately, there is a sad end to her tale… pyrite disease. Hopefully, you’ll never…
Read more: Fossil Friday #93: Pyritized ammonite fossils from the Jurassic Coast in England
Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday #95: Who’s Who: Who Were Howard and Olive Knight?

This is Throwback Thursday #95. 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! If we look back into the early history of ESCONI, there are a few names that show up again and again. Some of these are Allaway, Konecny, Sobolik, Ade (John and Dick), Hoff, Prepp, Bish, Farr and many more. Quite a few served as president… Bill Allaway was the first Chairman of ESCONI and both John and Dick Ade served as president. In…
Read more: Throwback Thursday #95: Who’s Who: Who Were Howard and Olive Knight?
ESCONI Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show, Mazon Creek

2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – March 19th – 20th, 2022 – Preview #1, Laveiniopteris rarinervis

This is the preview post #1 for the 2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The show is on March 19th and 20th, 2022 at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL. All details can be found here. This is a stunning plate of Laveiniopteris rarinervis, which is a seed fern found in the Mazon Creek fossil deposit. This species was featured in Mazon Monday #81. The specimen was collected in the legendary Dresden Lake locality on November 18th, 1962.
Read more: 2022 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – March 19th – 20th, 2022 – Preview #1, Laveiniopteris rarinervis
ESCONI Videos

Video for ESCONI January 2022 General Meeting – “Through the Ages: How we Date Rocks and Geologic Processes”

The January 2022 General Meeting was held on January 14th, 2022 via Zoom. Our speaker was Dr. Alyssa Abbey from California State University Long Beach. The title of her talk was “Through the Ages: How we Date Rocks and Geologic Processes”.
Read more: Video for ESCONI January 2022 General Meeting – “Through the Ages: How we Date Rocks and Geologic Processes”
Mazon Creek, Mazon Monday

Mazon Monday #96: Pennsylvanian Plant Fossils of Illinois

This is Mazon Monday post #96. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The book “Pennsylvanian Plant Fossils of Illinois” was #6 in the Educational Series published by the Illinois State Geological Survey in 1960. It was written by Charles Collinson (1923 – 2011) and Romayne Skartvedt. The book can be purchased used online or downloaded free from Project Gutenberg. The main author Charles Collinson also wrote “Guide for Beginning Fossil Hunters”, which was #4 in the ISGS’s Education Series. He was a paleontologist with the ISGS for the majority of his professional career. In the Foreword,…
Read more: Mazon Monday #96: Pennsylvanian Plant Fossils of Illinois
Around the Web

164 million-year-old plant fossil is the oldest example of a flowering bud

LiveScience has a story about the oldest known example of a flower bud. Researchers in China have discovered a fossil flower bud from 164 million years ago. The new plant species, Florigerminis jurassica, was found in Inner Mongolia. The description was published in the journal Geological Society of London. There are two main types of plants: flowering plants, known as angiosperms, and non-flowering plants, known as gymnosperms. The flower bud and fruit in the fossil are both clear indicators that F. jurassica was an angiosperm and not a gymnosperm, which was the dominant plant type during the Jurassic period. Until now, fossil…
Read more: 164 million-year-old plant fossil is the oldest example of a flowering bud
Around the Web

PBS Eons: Primates vs Snakes (An Evolutionary Arms Race)

There’s a new episode of PBS Eons. This one is about the “Snake Detection Hypothesis”. The Snake Detection Hypothesis proposes that the ability to quickly spot and avoid snakes is deeply embedded in primates, including us – an evolutionary consequence of the danger snakes have posed to us over millions of years.
Read more: PBS Eons: Primates vs Snakes (An Evolutionary Arms Race)
Fossil Friday, Mazon Creek

Fossil Friday #92: Mazon Creek Mystery

This is the “Fossil Friday” post #92. 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 the first of a couple “mystery” Mazon Creek fossil posts. This one comes from long time ESCONI friend and member Dan Damrow. You might recall the stunning tar pit fossil photos he sent us back in November (Fossil Friday #83) and the gorgeous Packer… err Green Bay Cystoid in…
Read more: Fossil Friday #92: Mazon Creek Mystery
Mazon Creek, Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday #94: Dave’s Down to Earth Rock Shop – September 1973

This is Throwback Thursday #94. 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! Dave’s Down To Earth Rock Shop was established in 1970 by the then twenty year old Dave Douglass. He stocked the store with material from his own collection, which he started when he was just 9! The shop is located in Evanston, IL and easily reached via car, Metra, and El train. Dave, his mother June, and father Lincoln all have Mazon Creek…
Read more: Throwback Thursday #94: Dave’s Down to Earth Rock Shop – September 1973
Around the Web

Surprising Dinosaur Discovery: Ankylosaur Was Sluggish and Deaf

SciTechDaily has a story about Ankylosaurs. A CT scan of a braincase of an Ankylosaur, Struthiosaurus austriacus, which lived about 80 million years ago in what is now modern day Austria, has led to some surprising new details: it was sluggish and deaf. The research was published recently in the journal Scientific Reports. Ankylosaurs could grow up to eight meters in body length and represent a group of herbivorous dinosaurs, also called ‘living fortresses’: Their body was cluttered with bony plates and spikes. Some of their representatives, the ankylosaurids sometimes possessed a club tail, while nodosaurids had elongated spikes on…
Read more: Surprising Dinosaur Discovery: Ankylosaur Was Sluggish and Deaf
Calendar of Events, ESCONI Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show

ESCONI 2022 Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show! March 19th and 20th, 2022

Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois ESCONI 2022 Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show March 19th and 20th Dealers, Demonstrators, Displays, Live and Silent Auctions,Book Sales, Kid’s Korner, Geode Splitting Free Parking! Free Admission! DuPage County Fairgrounds2015 Manchester Rd.Wheaton, IllinoisSaturday 10 AM to 5 PMSunday 10 AM to 4 PMwww.esconi.org Download Show Flyer
Read more: ESCONI 2022 Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show! March 19th and 20th, 2022
Mazon Creek, Mazon Monday

Mazon Monday #95: Neuropteris vermicularis

This is Mazon Monday post #95. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. For this post, we are looking at another seed fern species, Neuropteris vermicularis. N. vermicularis was identified by Leo Lesquereux in 1866. He 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. In 1969, William Cup…
Read more: Mazon Monday #95: Neuropteris vermicularis
Calendar of Events

ESCONI Warehouse Work Day – Saturday, January 22nd, 2022, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM

If you have some time, come join our work day at the warehouse on Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 from 9:00 AM -1:00 PM. The warehouse address is 900 Knell in Montgomery, IL. Please meet/enter in the back of the warehouse ONLY. You will see railroad tracks along the back of the warehouse. Drive all the way to the end in the back. For more information, contact us Dave Carlson at fossil54@att.net or esconi.info@gmail.com.
Read more: ESCONI Warehouse Work Day – Saturday, January 22nd, 2022, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Around the Web

PBS Eons: How Our Deadliest Parasite Turned To The Dark Side

There’s a new episode of PBS Eons. This one is about the origin of malaria. Did you know that Plasmodium is a plant?!? Around 10,000 years ago, somewhere in Africa, a microscopic parasite made a huge leap. With a little help from a mosquito, it left its animal host – probably a gorilla – and found its way to a new host: us.
Read more: PBS Eons: How Our Deadliest Parasite Turned To The Dark Side
Fossil Friday, Mazon Creek

Fossil Friday #91: Paleocaris typus from the Mazon River

This is the “Fossil Friday” post #91. 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! Back in Mazon Monday #65, we spotlighted Paleocaris typus. And today, we have sweet little specimen from the Mazon River just outside Morris, IL. These syncarid shrimps are often mistaken for Acanthotelson stimpsonii (spotlighted back in Mazon Monday #52), which is also a syncarid shrimp. The major distinguishing characteristic between the two,…
Read more: Fossil Friday #91: Paleocaris typus from the Mazon River
Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday #93: Gorgeous George

This is Throwback Thursday #93. 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! Before there was SUE the T. rex, there was “Gorgeous George”. If you are old enough to remember when SUE first showed up at the Field Museum, you probably remember the “T. rex.” in the Field Museum’s main gallery, where it stood over a Lambeosaurus. As a kid, I really loved that display. It was the dinosaur centerpiece of the Field Museum from…
Read more: Throwback Thursday #93: Gorgeous George
Around the Web

NYT: Fossils of a Prehistoric Rainforest Hide in Australia’s Rusted Rocks

The 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…
Read more: NYT: Fossils of a Prehistoric Rainforest Hide in Australia’s Rusted Rocks

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.”
No meeting this month	Mineralogy Study Group
No meeting this month	Junior Study Group

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