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Feather-tailed possums in New Guinea were originally Aussies, according to fossil study
Read more: Feather-tailed possums in New Guinea were originally Aussies, according to fossil studyThe New Guinean feather-tailed possum, Distoechurus pennatus, never developed gliding. Credit: UNSW Sydney Phys.org as a story about possums in New Guinea. A paper in Alcheringa : An Australasain Journal of Paleontology analyzed fossils from Riversleigh and found interesting facts about the ancestors of a tiny possum. Biologists have long known that miniature feather-tailed possums in Australia and the island of New Guinea are evolutionary cousins… they just didn’t know how closely they were related until now. Professor Mike Archer from UNSW’s School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences says that in an analysis of extinct species found at Riversleigh…
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PBS Eons: Are Giant Animals Inevitable?
Read more: PBS Eons: Are Giant Animals Inevitable?PBS Eons has a new episode on Youtube. This one is about large animals, are they inevitable? The journey the thunder beasts took to reach such mega proportions from such humble beginnings forces us to ask an important question, one that paleontologists have been asking for more than a century: from an evolutionary perspective, is bigger always better?
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Fossil Friday #184: Gilpichthys greenei from Mazon Creek
Read more: Fossil Friday #184: Gilpichthys greenei from Mazon CreekThis is the “Fossil Friday” post #184. 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 a beautiful, huge Gilpichthys greenei. G. greenei was named for Frank Greene, who was a long time Mazon Creek collector. Frank is also the namesake for Reticulomedusa greenei. He owned a small rock shop in Coal City during the heyday of Mazon Creek collecting. You can learn more about…
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Throwback Thursday #185: ESCONI Flea Market 2000 #fleamarket
Read more: Throwback Thursday #185: ESCONI Flea Market 2000 #fleamarketThis is Throwback Thursday #185. 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! ESCONI held a Flea Market on October 7th, 2000 at the College of DuPage in Building K, which was torn down a few years ago. The Flea Market was held off and on with the last one about 15 years ago. It was a way for ESCONI to raise some money for the club and slim down by selling donated material. Annoucement Here…
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Stone by Ancient Stone, Mexico Recovers Its Lost Treasure
Read more: Stone by Ancient Stone, Mexico Recovers Its Lost TreasureThe New York Times has a story about how Mexico is working to restore and preserve its cultural heritage. American officials are helping to track down and restore stolen antiquities from Mexico and restore the items to their rightful owners. Many of the artifacts, stolen years ago, sell to collectors for upwards of a million dollars. Mesoamerican archaeologists know it as Monument 9: a 2,600-year-old carving in stone of a jaguar’s gaping face, roughly five feet wide and tall and weighing one ton. Nearly 60 years ago the relic was looted from the ruins of Chalcatzingo, an Olmec site south…
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Jurassic pliosaur ‘megapredator’ was a giant ‘sea murderer’
Read more: Jurassic pliosaur ‘megapredator’ was a giant ‘sea murderer’Live Science has a story about a “megapredator” of the Jurassic. The new pliosaur species, Lorrainosaurus, lived about 170 million years ago. Pliosaurs ruled the oceans during the Jurassic. This animal was found in the former region of Lorraine (now part of Grand Est) in northeastern France. A paper in the journal Scientific Reports reexamined the fossils that were first described in 1994. A newfound member of a “dynasty” of pliosaur megapredators was at the top of the ocean food chain for 80 million years, a new study reveals. The newly described sea monster, named Lorrainosaurus, was a Jurassic (201 million to 145…
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Mazon Monday #187: Palaeocampa anthrax
Read more: Mazon Monday #187: Palaeocampa anthraxThis is Mazon Monday post #187. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Palaeocampa anthrax was an polychaete worm, believed to be similar to a group of modern day annulid worms referred to as fireworms. It was described by Fielding Bradford Meek (1817-1876) and Amos Henry Worthen (1813-1888) in “Notice of some new types of organic remains from the Coal Measures of Illinois”, which was published in 1865. Meek worked for the USGS and the Smithsonian, while Worthen served as the second State Geologist of Illinois. Worthen later became the first curator of the Illinois State Museum…
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During the Age of Dinosaurs, Some Birds Sported Toothy Grins
Read more: During the Age of Dinosaurs, Some Birds Sported Toothy GrinsSmithsonian Magazine has an interesting article about birds with teeth. Before the K-Pg event at the end of the Cretaceous Period, most birds had teeth, but those species are rarely discussed. One of the first toothed bird discovered, was Hesperornis in the 1870’s. Early birds such as Archaeopteryx don’t look all that different from the small, carnivorous dinosaurs they evolved from, with long, bony tails; claws; and, of course, teeth. Other features we associate with living birds—egg-laying, feathers, complex systems of air sacs—all evolved among non-avian dinosaurs first, too. And while Mesozoic bird fossils are rarely uncovered, owing to their small size and fragile…
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How Smithsonian Fossil Preparators Are Re-Excavating a Tyrannosaur from Its Past on Display
Read more: How Smithsonian Fossil Preparators Are Re-Excavating a Tyrannosaur from Its Past on DisplaySmithsonian Magazine’s National Fossil Day post looks at a tyrannosaur specimen that has been on display for many years. The animal, Gorgosaurus libratus, had been at the museum since 1918. It was found in the rugged badlands around the Red Deer River in Alberta, Canada. It lived about 75 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. Barnum Brown discovered this specimen between 1913 and 1914 along with another specimen. It was later traded to the Smithsonian for a Barosaurus neck. The Red Deer River’s rich assembly of dinosaur bones has attracted paleontologists for more than a century. In the 1910s,…
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Fossil Friday #183: Mazon Creek Spider
Read more: Fossil Friday #183: Mazon Creek SpiderThis is the “Fossil Friday” post #183. 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 breathtaking Mazon Creek spider for our Fossil Friday. This is Amarixys sulcata. Which was described by A. L. Melander in 1903. He was an American entomologist would wrote extensively, describing many arthropods during his long career. This beautiful specimen comes from long time ESCONI member Rich…
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Throwback Thursday #184: Crater of Diamonds State Park 1972
Read more: Throwback Thursday #184: Crater of Diamonds State Park 1972This is Throwback Thursday #184. 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! Located near Murfreesboro, Arkansas, Crater of Diamonds is a State Park of Arkansas. It’s the only place in the world where the public can search for real diamonds. The park opened in 1972 after the State of Arkansas purchased the land and opened it up for public access. The largest diamond found at the park was 40.23 carats. That diamond, named “Uncle Sam”,…
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Rare Jurassic fossils discovered near Lake Powell
Read more: Rare Jurassic fossils discovered near Lake PowellPhys.org has a story about the discovery of some rare fossils new Lake Powell in Utah. Tritylodontid mammaliaforms are rare animals that lived during the Jurassic Period about 180 million years ago. The fossils were discovered in an area that would ordinarily be covered in water… you might say that the paleontologists were in the right place at the right time, just before the snow melt in the spring of 2023. The fossils will reside in the Glen Canyon NRA museum collection. A paper describing this rare find was published in the journal Geology of the Intermountain West. While documenting…
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Black Hawk Gem and Mineral Club Fall 2023 Rock, Gem and Jewelry Show – October 28th, 29th, 2023 at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport, IA
Read more: Black Hawk Gem and Mineral Club Fall 2023 Rock, Gem and Jewelry Show – October 28th, 29th, 2023 at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport, IAThe Blackhawk Gem and Mineral Club is holding its Fall Show on October 29th & 30th, 2023. BLACK HAWK GEM AND MINERAL CLUB FALL ROCK, GEM AND JEWELRY SHOWMississippi Valley Fairgrounds2815 W Locust St.Davenport. Iowa Sat. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.Sun. 11 a.m.-4:00 p.m. The show will feature rocks, minerals, fossils, agates, geodes, tumbled stones, carved stones, beads, silver and beaded jewelry, spheres, arrowheads and much more. Admission is $1 for adults, Kids 12 and under are free. For information call John 815-757-5738 or www.blackhawkgemandmineralclub.com
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Mazon Monday #186: Mazon Creek Fossil Day
Read more: Mazon Monday #186: Mazon Creek Fossil DayThis is Mazon Monday post #186. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. ESCONI and the Carbon Hill School Museum sponsored “Mazon Creek Fossil Day” on October 14th, 2023. The event was a celebration of Mazon Creek amateur fossil collectors and their contributions to Paleontology. There were fossil displays, two presentations, and 5+ hours of interesting conversation. Ralph Jewell has post with many photos over on The Fossil Forum. Dr. Eugene Richardson Jr wrote this in his “The Amateur Fossil-Hunters – Paleontology’s Unsung Heroes” article for the March 1975 edition of the Field Museum’s Bulletin. Today, more…
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MAPS 2023 “The Devonian” – October 20-22, 2023, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, IL
Read more: MAPS 2023 “The Devonian” – October 20-22, 2023, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, ILThe MAPS show is being held October 20th to 22nd, 2022 in Springfield, IL. The topic is “The Devonian II”. The Keynote Address will be given by Dr. Jed Day of Illinois State University on Friday Evening. DATES: October 21-23, 2022. LOCATION: EXPO XLIV 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…
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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 LibraryToday is the day! Come on out! JOIN 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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Fossil Friday #182: Lepidodendron Bark
Read more: Fossil Friday #182: Lepidodendron BarkThis is the “Fossil Friday” post #182. 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! Lepidodendron, also known as “scale tree”, is an extinct prehistoric tree which was one of the most abundant trees of the Carboniferous period. They grew densely and some could get very tall, maybe 180 feet! Common in the coal swamps of the Pennsylvanian Period is mostly made up of Lepidodendron. We have…
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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
ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show
Most Recent Post
- Mazon Monday #316: Sublepidophloios protuberans
Today, we have Sublepidophloios protuberans, which is a species of lycopsid branch. It’s very common, actually the most common form of lycopsid bark in the Mazon Creek fossil flora.
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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 |