Tag: fossils
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ESCONI June 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting – “Factors controlling the distribution of Late Ordovician – Silurian crinoids.”
The ESCONI June 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting was held on Saturday, June 20th, 2026 at 7:30 PM via Zoom. Lincoln Shoemaker presented “Factors controlling the distribution of Late Ordovician – Silurian crinoids.” Lincoln Shoemaker is currently a master’s student at the University of Cincinnati where he is involved in multiple projects regarding the Late…
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Mazon Tuesday #328: The Legacy of Tom Testa
Michele Micetich, curator of the Carbon Hill School Museum, will host a special event on Saturday, June 27, 2026, celebrating the life and legacy of Tom Testa. A lifelong fossil collector with a passion for Mazon Creek fossils, Tom assembled one of the finest private collections of its kind. In 2015, he generously donated his…
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Mazon Monday #327: Direct development of stem tetrapods across the fin-to-limb transition
A significant paper on tetrapod development was published last week, and Mazon Creek fossils played a central role. “Direct Development of Stem Tetrapods Across the Fin-to-Limb Transition” by Jason Pardo and Arjan Mann of the Field Museum appeared in the journal Science. Lauer Foundation for Paleontology, Science, and Education also contributed to the study. The…
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ESCONI at the Coal City Library!
On June 4, ESCONI was at the Coal City Library to kick off summer with exhibits of fossils, geodes, and our popular dig box. Jody Gosain and Jim Bigler presented to over 150 people including 100 children. Interestingly, the library itself has three beautiful collection of Mazon Creek fossils donated by locals over the years.…
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Fossil Friday #322: Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri from Dresden
For this week’s Fossil Friday, we have a very nice Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri (see Mazon Monday #39). Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri is a fairly common seed fern, which is found in many Carboniferous fossil deposits. In some Mazon Creek localities like the Mazon River, it’s a dominant component of the flora. It was called Neuropteris scheuchzeri until 1977,…
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Video for ESCONI June 2026 General Meeting – “At the Intersection of Art and Science: Outreach in Natural History Museums”
The ESCONI June 2026 General Meeting will be held via Zoom at 8:00 PM on Friday, June 12th, 2026. Adrienne Stroup, Geological Collections, Vertebrate Paleontological Loan Manager, PaleoArtist/Scientific Illustrator from The Field Museum will be presenting “At the Intersection of Art and Science: Outreach in Natural History Museums.” Adrienne will talk about the vertebrate paleontological collections…
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ESCONI June 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting, Saturday, June 20th, 2026 at 7:30 PM via Zoom – “Factors controlling the distribution of Late Ordovician – Silurian crinoids.”
The ESCONI June 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting will be held on Saturday, June 20th, 2026 at 7:30 PM via Zoom. Lincoln Shoemaker will present “Factors controlling the distribution of Late Ordovician – Silurian crinoids.” Lincoln Shoemaker is currently a master’s student at the University of Cincinnati where he is involved in multiple projects regarding…
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Mazon Monday #326: More Mazon Creek at the 2026 CGMA Show
This is Mazon Monday post #326. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Long-time ESCONI member Rich Rock had an amazing display of Mazon Creek fossils at the CGMA show. There’s a little a bit of everything here, from clams to ferns to spiders to an absolutely breathtaking Alethopteris serlii. Enjoy!
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‘Whoa’: 12-year-old boy finds 80-million-year-old fossil during educational field trip
KCTV 5 has the story of a 12 year old finding some prehistoric treasure. Corbin Bullard, a budding paleontologist, discovered the skull and some vertebrae of an 80 million year old tylosaurus on a 4-H Geology Club field trip to Sedgwick County, Kansas.
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The Field Museum’s Dinopalooza 2026, Saturday, June 13th, 2026
The Field Museum’s annual paleontology extravaganza “Dinopalooza 2026” is today! Come on out and join the fun!
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Fossil Friday #321: A Large Crenulopteris acadica from the Mazon River
Marie Angkuw sent us these photos of a beautiful Mazon Creek fern. It’s a Crenulopteris acadica from the Mazon River. Crenulopteris acadica is a common fern from Mazon Creek, but this one is very large with multiple fronds. Marie collected this one a few years ago at the I&M Canal Corridor Benefit. The concretion opened…
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ESCONI June 2026 General Meeting, Friday, June 12th, 2026 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – “At the Intersection of Art and Science: Outreach in Natural History Museums”
The ESCONI June 2026 General Meeting will be held via Zoom at 8:00 PM on Friday, June 12th, 2026. Adrienne Stroup, Geological Collections, Vertebrate Paleontological Loan Manager, PaleoArtist/Scientific Illustrator from The Field Museum will be presenting “At the Intersection of Art and Science: Outreach in Natural History Museums.” Adrienne will talk about the vertebrate paleontological…
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Mazon Monday #325: Braceville Spring 2026 Field Trip Report
We held our spring Braceville field trip a few weeks ago. The weather was nearly perfect… partly cloudy with temperatures in the high 70’s and low 80’s each day.
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PBS Eons: 100 million years ago, squid suddenly took over the oceans
PBS Eons has a new Youtube Short.
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High-Energy X-Ray CT Scanning of large, dense fossils
Today’s post comes from Ravi Chandran and Tyler Keillor. Ravi Chandran is an ESCONI member and volunteer in Paul Sereno’s lab. Tyler Keiller is Manager of the fossil lab and past ESCONI member. He has presented at Paleofest and for ESCONI in the past. He is also paleo-artist. The Fossil Lab in Washington Park (5437…
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Fossil Friday #320: Tully Monster Repeat!
For this week’s Fossil Friday, we’re featuring our first-ever repeat fossil. It was special before and you’ll see why it’s even more special now. This remarkable Tully Monster specimen comes from longtime ESCONI member Jeremy Zimmerman. You could even say that this particular fossil is getting its third chance at fame.
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Mazon Monday #324: Stepwise loss of complexity in hagfish eyes prior to deep sea colonization
Mazon Creek hagfish made headlines again last week. New research led by Victoria McCoy, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, was published in the journal Biology Letters. In the paper, “Stepwise Loss of Complexity in Hagfish Eyes Prior to Deep-Sea Colonization,” McCoy collaborated with several familiar names… Arjan Mann…
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Fossil Friday #319: First Tully!
Back in late March, I went fossil collecting with a couple Field Museum researchers, including Lazaro Viñola López (see “Ancient bees found nesting inside fossil bones in rare cave discovery” for some of his recent work), a postdoctoral researcher. This was his first trip to Pit 11. Bet you can guess where this is headed…
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Microcoprolite morphotypes from the Revueltian (Upper Triassic:Norian) age Homestead Site, Garita Creek Formation, east-centralNew Mexico, USA
The Lauers are back with more science! The paper “Microcoprolite morphotypes from the Revueltian (Upper Triassic: Norian) age Homestead Site, Garita Creek Formation, east-central New Mexico, USA” was published in the journal Ichnos, which is an international journal for plant and animal traces.
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Mazon Monday #323: Mazon Creek at the 2026 CGMA Show
Jack Wittry had a breathtaking display at the 2026 CGMA Show at the Kane County Fairgrounds this past weekend. It featured Mazon Creek fossils named for ESCONI members.
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The Pokémon Fossil Museum at the Field Museum is now Open!
The Pokémon Fossil Museum at the Field Museum opened on Wednesday, May 20th, 2026. Tickets can be purchased here. Tickets are required for entry and should be purchased in advance. Here is the FAQ page.
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Fossil Friday #318: Rex, the Wonder Amphibian
We have something very interesting this week… The specimen’s label says “Rex, the Wonder Amphibian”. It’s an early tetrapod from the Mississippian of Iowa, some 340 million years ago. Whatcheeria deltae was described by R. Eric Lombard and John R. Bolt in 1985 in the paper “A new primitive tetrapod, Whatcheeria deltae, from the Lower…
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Video for ESCONI May 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting – “An Ordovician Konzentrat Lagerstätte: The Dixon Mifflin Residuum Fauna”
The program then concentrates on the Mifflin Member of the Platteville Formation and the exceptional preservation of the Dixon Lagerstätte. To appreciate the remarkable preservation of the Dixon material a standard fauna is needed for comparison. Fortunately, a Mifflin dolostone super-site is (was) located only 10 miles southeast of Dixon: the Lee Center Quarry. The…
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Mazon Monday #322: Asterophyllites longifolius
Asterophyllites longifolius like its sister taxon Asterophyllites equisetiformis (see Mazon Monday #103), formed part of the foliage of the giant horsetail-like plant Calamites. Both species are known from Mazon Creek, but while A. equisetiformis is common, A. longifolius is a very rare. One distinguishing characteristic of A. longifolius is that the leaves are longer than…
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Introducing Laueropterus!
On his blog “Archosaur Musings”, David Hone has an excellent post about the newly described pterosaur Laueropterus, which was named for the Bruce and Rene’ Lauer of the Lauer Foundation. Bruce and Rene’ are long time ESCONI members. They do extraordinary work in Paleontology, Science, and Education. Their work and accomplishments have been featured many…
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Fossil Friday #317: Silurian Aquatic Scorpion From the Kokomo Limestone
This undescribed aquatic scorpion dates to the Silurian Period and was collected by Sam Ciurca from the Kokomo Limestone at Yeoman Quarry near Kokomo, Indiana, in 1975. Measuring about 2 inches in length, this animal is extraordinarily rare, with only a handful of specimens known.
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Throwback Thursday #317: The Fossil Story from Shell Oil Co.
I saw this video mentioned the May 1956 edition of the ESCONI newsletter (see Throwback Thursday #316). I vaguely remember watching it in grade school. It’s interesting how our view of paleontology changed with the addition of plate tectonics.
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ESCONI May 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting Saturday, May 16th, 2026 at 7:30 PM via Zoom – “An Ordovician Konzentrat Lagerstätte: The Dixon Mifflin Residuum Fauna”
John will begin the program by introducing what a Konzentrat-Lagerstätten consists of and a brief introduction of the Platteville Formation. The depositional environment of the Mohawkian Sea, home of the Platteville fauna sets the stage for the faunal comparison.
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ESCONI Field Trip to Mount Orab for Trilobites – Saturday, July 11th, 2026
ESCONI will have a field trip to Flat Run Fossils in Mt. Orab, OH on Saturday July 11, 2026. There is an attendance limit of 16 people. Flat Run Fossils is a new pay-to-dig site in the famous Mt. Orab trilobite beds. For many years, thousands of gorgeous Flexicalymene and Isotelus trilobites have been collected…
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Mazon Monday #321: So, where’s the shrimp?!?
Andy Jansen wrote this article for the December 2007 edition of the ESCONI newsletter. Andy has been an ESCONI board member for many years. He’s currently our Treasurer and Librarian. If you attended our show in March, he was in his usually position at the book display and sale tables.
