Tag: Carboniferous
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Mazon Monday #28: Cyclus americanus
This is Mazon Monday post #28. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Today, we have a species spotlight on Cyclus americanus. It’s one of my favorite Mazon Creek animals. Cycloids form an order of fossil arthropods that lived from the Carboniferous to the Cretaceous periods. Here is the text from the…
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Mazon Monday #27: Care and Feeding of Your Mazon Creek Concretions
This is Mazon Monday post #27. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Now that you have collected some concretions at Braceville (and maybe other places) this year, here are some notes on how to process them to maximize your chances for something good. Care and Handling of Mazon Creek Concretions Storage …
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Fossil Friday #24: Euphoberia from the Mazon River
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #24. 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 an excellent specimen of…
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Fossil Friday #23: Animals from Braceville
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #23. 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! There is a field trip to Braceville…
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Mazon Monday #25: Mazonomya mazonensis
This is Mazon Monday post #25. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The species spotlight falls on Mazonomya mazonensis, known mistakenly as Edmondia for a long time. It was also called affectionately clam-clam. Here is the text from the Mazon Creek Fossil Fauna by Jack Wittry. Mazonomya mazonensis Bailey, 2011 Found…
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Fossil Friday #22: Plants from Braceville
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #22. 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! There is a field trip to Braceville…
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Mazon Monday #24: Euphoberia sp.
This is Mazon Monday post #24. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Today’s species is Euphoberia sp., a millipede from the Mazon Creek biota. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Euphoberia is an extinct genus of millipede from the Pennsylvanian epoch of the Late Carboniferous, measuring up to 30 centimetres (12 in) in length.[1] Fossils have been found in Europe[2] and North America.[3] There…
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ESCONI September 2020 General Meeting – September 11th, 2020 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – “Carboniferous Fossils Reveal How Fishes Evolve, and How They Don’t”
Reconstruction of Mazon Creek by John Megahan The speaker at our September 11th, 2020 general meeting will be Dr. Lauren Sallan from the University of Pennsylvania. Her presentation will be done via Zoom and will start at 9:00 PM. Dr. Sallan received her PhD from the University of Chicago in 2012. She was a…
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Mazon Monday #23: Interesting Pennsylvanian Fossil Sites: Crock Hey, Lancashire, UK
This is Mazon Monday post #23. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. In Mazon Monday #10, we discussed localities where siderite preservation of Pennsylvanian fossils has been found. There were a few localities listed. Here is more information about the site called Crock Hey (also Crockhey). This site was located near Lancashire in…
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Mazon Monday #22: Pit 11
This is Mazon Monday post #21. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Summer is passing into September and the temperature should should be cooling. Unfortunately, the overgrowth isn’t going to diminish until next spring. However, Pit 11 doesn’t close to fossil hunting until September 30th. So, It’s time to repeat this article…
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Mazon Monday #21: Euproops danae
This is Mazon Monday post #21. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Euproops was a horseshoe crab. There are two species of horseshoe crab found in the Mazon Creek biota, Euproops danae (common) and Paleolimulus sp. (extremely rare). Both are known from other Carboniferous fossil localities around the world. As you…
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Mazon Monday #20: Fossil Preservation
This is Mazon Monday post #20. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Back in 2017, Palaeocast posted a lecture called “Is a ‘one size fits all’ taphonomic model appropriate for the Mazon Creek” by Dr. Thomas Clements, of the University of Birmingham in the UK. You may remember Dr. Clements… he…
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Mazon Monday #19: Bandringa rayi
This is Mazon Monday post #19. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Would you believe that Illinois has a shark nursery? OK, it is about 307 million years old and the evidence resides in Mazon Creek fossil concretions. The first species, Bandringa rayi, was described in a paper published by Rainer…
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Fossil Friday #17: Mazon Creek Alethopteris serlii
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #17. 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! What’s your favorite Mazon Creek plant fossil? …
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Mazon Monday #18: Langford Book Inscriptions
This is Mazon Monday post #18. Book inscriptions were much more common in the past. As owner of a book, which was a valuable possession. you might add your name to the inner cover. A recent Langford purchase by ESCONI member Roy Plotnick, reminded us of the historical significance of these inscriptions. Many of the…
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Fossil Friday #16: Macroneuropteris With Insect Damage
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #16. 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! —————————————————– Plant fossils with insect damage are…
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Mazon Monday #17: One Fish, Two Fish, Three Fish, Many Fish…
This is Mazon Monday post #17. There are a few types of fish known in the Mazon Creek biota. And while, the classification has changed since the creature corner article on fish, which appeared in March 1989. It’s still interesting and instructive. Here is the text and a few drawings. The following two concretions are…
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Mazon Monday #16: Adelophthalmus mazonensis
This is Mazon Monday post #16. Maybe it’s their size (early Devonian species could be almost three meters long!) or their similarity to scorpions (they’re called sea-scorpions) or their rarity (they are fairly scarce in the fossil record), it’s hard to say why, but Eurypterids were fascinating animals. There is currently only one known Mazon…
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Mazon Monday #15: Mazon Creek at the Field Museum
This is Mazon Monday post #15. The Field Museum has one of the most extensive collections of Mazon Creek specimens, both flora and fauna. The Field Museum has long been a big part of the study of this locality, with such historical giants as George Langford and Eugene Richardson working there. Currently, Jack Wittry works…
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Fossil Friday #13: Annularia
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #13. 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! —————————————————– How about some Annularia for the…
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Mazon Monday #14: Essexella asherae
This is Mazon Monday post #14. Essexella asharae is the most common animal fossil you will find in the Mazon Creek biota. In the Essex biota, it has been estimated to be over 40% of finds. Specimens come in many forms with varied preservation. While there was a recent paper about whether it is a…
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Mazon Monday #13: Belotelson magister
This is Mazon Monday post #13. Belotelson magister is the most common crustacean/shrimp fossil in the Mazon Creek biota. They can be found fairly readily and can range from a partial, to a molt, and sometimes even a full body. Most of the shrimps found in Pit 11 are Belotelsons. It was described way back…
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Fossil Friday #11: Mazon Creek Ferns
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #10. 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! —————————————————– Here are some nice Mazon Creek ferns. …
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Mazon Monday #12: Tully: Monster vs Method
This is Mazon Monday post #12. This video by the Field Museum details some of the modern research methods used to study the Tully Monster fossils, and actually many of the other fossils in the FM collection. This research led to the conclusions that you have heard a few years ago… the Tully Monster is…
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Fossil Friday #10: A Mazon Creek Scorpion!
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #10. 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 beauty was contributed by Phil Anderson. …
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Mazon Monday #11: Mazon Creek Collections Database
This is Mazon Monday post #11. The Illinois State Museum in Springfield, IL has a significant collection of Mazon Creek fossils. Most of the collection stems from a collection donated by George Langford in the 1930s. The Mazon Creek Collections Database is a digitzed resource accessible on the museum’s website. In it, you will find…
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Fossil Friday #9: Alethopteris serlii from the Mazon River
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #9. 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! Here is a stunning Alethopteris serlii from…
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Mazon Monday #10: Pennsylvanian Siderite Concretionary Fossil Sites
This is Mazon Monday post #10. Fossiliferous Pennsylvanian siderite concretions are known from multiple locations around the world. The most well documented sites are: Some of these localities were described in a paper by Baird, Sroka, and Shabica in 1985, titled “Mazon Creek-Type Fossil Assemblages in the U.S. Midcontinent Pennsylvanian”. A post on the Fossil…
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Mazon Monday #9: Acanthodes beecheri
This is Mazon Monday post #9. Acanthodes beecheri is the subject of this Species Spotlight. Some of the material in this post was provided by David Duck. Dave has a deep appreciation and interest in the Mazon Creek fauna and flora. He has even constructed 3-D models of quite a few of the Mazon animals,…
