Tag: fossil
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Scientists Discover ‘Goblin Prince’ That Roamed With Dinosaurs
Science Alert has a story about the redicovery of a key fossil in the back of a museum drawer. Discovered around 2006, this new species, Bolg amondol, is a fossil gila monster from Utah. It dates to the late Cretaceous. The name translates to “mound-headed goblin prince” in J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Elvish language. Hank Woolley, paleontologist at…
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Fossil Friday #272: Crenulopteris acadica
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #272. 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! —————————————————– Crenulopteris acadica is one of the…
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Wired: Paleontologist Answers Fossil Questions
Wired magazine has an interesting new video up on Youtube. It’s question and answer with Paleontologist and Geologist Dr. Ken Lacovara. Paleontologist and Geologist Dr. Ken Lacovara joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about fossils. Can we extract dinosaur DNA from fossils? How is crude oil made from fossils? Where are the most…
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Mazon Monday #276: Video for Cal So’s “Taxonomic diversity and development of Late Carboniferous amphibamiforms from the Mazon Creek Lagerstätte”
This is Mazon Monday post #276. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Cal So, Postdoctoral Scientist in the Research & Collections Department of The Field Museum, Chicago, gave us an informative presentation in June 2025. The title of his presentation was “Taxonomic diversity and development of Late Carboniferous amphibamiforms from the…
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A T-Rex with feathers? Scientists say dinosaurs were likely different from what most of us picture
A story in the UC Berkeley News details how dinosaurs were probably much different than we have imagined. 50 years ago, scientists had a much differernt view of dinosaurs as slow, dumb animals. Then, came John Ostrom, Bob Bakker with their insights comparing dinosaurs to modern animals. Those viewpoints led to the Jurassic Park view…
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Natural History Museum: New dinosaur species on display in our Earth Hall
The Natural History Museum in London has a new video on Youtube about their new dinosaur, Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae. Meet Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, our new dinosaur! Now on display in our Earth Hall, Enigmacursor is a species new to science and would have roamed North America in the Late Jurassic 145-150 million years ago. Measuring only 1.5…
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Fossil Friday #271: Laveiniopteris rarinervis
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #271. 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 week we have a breathtaking…
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Throwback Thursday #271: Rare fossil find for Joliet man
This is Throwback Thursday #271. 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! email:esconi.info@gmail.com. I came across this story a few days ago in a Facebook post by Gus Kramer. Back in…
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University of Arizona study confirms New Mexico fossils may be earliest evidence of humans in Americas
Tuscon.com has a story about the oldest evidence of human occupation in North America. A 2021 study from the University of Arizona revealed data that dated fossilized footprints from White Sands National Park to 23,000 year ago. This was controversial as the previously excepted oldest human evidence was 17,000 before present. Most of the criticism…
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Mazon Monday #275: Rhacophyllum molle
This is Mazon Monday post #275. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. After Lesquereux (1870) Rhacophyllum molle is a wispy plant, underfined plant species described by Leo Lesquereux in 1870 as Hymenophyllites mollis. Later, he reclassified it as Rhacophyllum molle. He thought it was a type of aquatic plant. He reported…
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Fossil Friday #270: Anthracomedusa turnbulli
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #270. 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…
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Mazon Monday #274: George Langford Sr. Passes Away on June 16th, 1964
This is Mazon Monday post #274. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Recently, I ran across the letter from George Langford Jr. upon the death of his father – George Langford Sr. The letter is the subject of this post and follows below. George Langford Sr. is giant in the history…
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Fossil Friday #269: Crenulopteris subcrenulata
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #269. 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 week, we have a stunning…
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Mazon Monday #273: Neuropteris fimbriata
This is Mazon Monday post #273. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Neuropteris fimbriata is a seed fern. It has by found associated with Neuropters ovata and is considered a growth form of it. N. fimbriata was described in 1866 by one the founders of American paleobotany Leo Lesquereux (1806-1889). Lesquereux…
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Fossil Friday #268: Metasequoia Cone From Stonerose in Washington
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #268. 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 week’s submission comes from Jim…
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Mazon Monday #272: Annularia radiata
This is Mazon Monday post #272. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Annularia radiata is a very commonly found species of Annularia. Annularia was the foliage for Calamites sp., which is related to modern day horsetails. It is very similar to the larger Annularia inflata (Mazon Monday #60). It was named…
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Fossil Friday #267: Annularia radiata
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #267. 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! —————————————————– We have a sweet little Annularia…
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Mazon Tuesday #271: Chicago Tribune: The world’s best-preserved fossils are right outside Chicago
This is Mazon Monday post #271. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. We have a bonus Mazon Monday this week—though since this second post falls on a Tuesday, we’ll call it Mazon Tuesday. On Monday, May 26th, the Chicago Tribune published an article highlighting Mazon Creek, the Field Museum, and ESCONI—a…
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Mazon Monday #270: Braceville Field Trip Report for Spring 2025
This is Mazon Monday post #270. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. We had absolutely beautiful weather for both Saturday and Sunday, although it did get a little windy on Saturday. Attendance was excellent with very few no shows. Members who couldn’t make it, cancelled early to enable those on the…
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Fossil Friday #266: Latzelia primordialis
Alan Keith sent us photos of his recent centipede find from Pit 11. He collected this concretion this spring on one of his trips up north from Texas. Centipedes are one of the rarest animals in the Mazon Creek fossil deposit. An estimate of occurrence for centipedes was about 3 in 287,000 concretions in the…
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Video for ESCONI Paleontology Meeting May 2025 – “Platteville Oncocerid Nautiloids: Living on the Mohawkian Sea Floor”
Topic: Platteville Oncocerid Nautiloids: Living on the Mohawkian Sea FloorPresenter: John Catalani Although many Ordovician nautiloid faunas are dominated by straight-shelled orthoconic forms, this is not true for the incredibly abundant and diverse Platteville fauna. The Platteville nautiloid fauna consists of 9+ Orders with the Oncocerida accounting for 50+% of the published species. I will…
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Mazon Monday #269: Belotelson magister
This is Mazon Monday post #269. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Belotelson magister is the most common crustacean/shrimp fossil in the Mazon Creek biota. Fossil preservation of Belotelson magister varies with the most common presentation being a molt. It was described as Acanthotelson magister by Alpheus Spring Packard (1839-1905) in…
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Fossil Friday #265: Sphenopteris spinosa
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #265. 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 week’s Fossil Friday is a…
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Mazon Monday #268: Pecopteris lanceolata
This is Mazon Monday post #268. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Pecopteris lanceolata is a very rare variety of true fern found only in the Mazon Creek fossil deposit. It was first described as Alethopteris lanceolata by Leo Lesquereux in 1870. Later in 1879, Lesquereux reclassified this fern as Pecopteris lanceolata.…
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Fossil Friday #264: Arctinurus boltoni from Caleb’s Quarry in NY
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #264. 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! —————————————————– We have something different today… a…
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Mazon Monday #267: Danville Spoil Pile Field Trip Report for April 2025
This is Mazon Monday post #267. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The spring trip to the Danville Spoil Pile was held on Satuday, April 26th. The day started out overcast and chilly with temperatures in the mid-40s and fairly brisk winds. By the end of the trip, the sun was…
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Fossil Friday #263: Mazon Creek Worm Twofer
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #263. 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 week’s Fossil Friday is a…
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Fossil Friday #262: Rhacophyllum cornutum
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #262. 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! —————————————————– Rhacophyllum cornutum is a rare Mazon…
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Mazon Monday #265: Historic Collectors – John and Lucy McLuckie
This is Mazon Monday post #265. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. John McLuckie, a prominent figure in the history of Mazon Creek fossil collecting and an early member of ESCONI, was well known—along with his wife Lucy—for their extraordinary fossil collection. The two are pictured together on the left in…
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Fossil Friday #261: Crossotheca boulayi
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #261. 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! —————————————————– We have one of the rarer…
