Tag: fossils
-
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 this from grade school. It’s interesting how our view of paleontology changed with the addition of plate tectonics.
-
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.
-
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…
-
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.
-
A 75-million-year-old fossil reveals a shocking tyrannosaur secret
Science Daily has a story about the feeding habits of tyrannosaurs. The diet of tyrannosaurs has been long and sometimes controversial, remember when it was proposed that T-rex was a scavenger? Well a new paper in the journal Evolving Earth, found evidence of cannibalism from marks on a massive tyrannosaur foot bone. Interestingly, the marks…
-
The Rise of Eyes Began With Just One
Carl Zimmer has an interesting article over at the New York Times. He discusses the evolution of eye… but how many eyes? Some of our early ancestors, about 560 million years ago, might have had only one. During the Cambrian Period, 518 million years ago, some early vertebrates from China may have had two pairs…
-
Fossil Friday #316: Asterophyllites longifolius
Recently, Marie Angkuw mentioned that she had required a large, and very sweet example of Asterophyllites longifolius. She found this specimen at an antique mall. The fossil was part of an old collection. I wonder if it was the “oldest” antique at the mall?
-
Trilobite Tuesday #50: Penn Dixie: Dig With the Experts 2026 – June 13th and 14th, 2026
The Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Center are holding their annual “Dig With the Experts” event on June 13th and 14th, 2026. Details can be found be found on their website. We’ve featured a few trilobites from Penn Dixie for Fossil Friday. I went there a few years ago and had a great time.…
-
Mazon Monday #320: A shoot at the root? Unique development and evolution of the stigmarian apical meristem
Our friends at the Field Museum have been busy… this time it’s paleobotany. The paper “A shoot at the root? Unique development and evolution of the stigmarian apical meristem” was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B a few days ago. The authors should be familiar… Michael P. D’Antonio, C. Kevin Boyce,…
-
PBS Eons: How Dinosaurs May Have Cursed Us With Aging
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about how aging in mammals might be due to evolved traits while we lived alongside dinosaurs.
-
Fossil Friday #315: Eubleptus danielsi
Eubleptus danielsi belongs to the Palaeodictyoptera an extinct order of medium-sized to very large, primitive Palaeozoic paleopterous insects. E. danielsi was described by Anton Handlirsch in 1906. Handlirsch (1865 – 1935) was an Austrian entomologist, who worked extensively on many insect orders. He did significant work studying of fossil insects. Handlirsch described E. danielsi in “Revision of American Paleozoic insects. Proceedings of…
-
ESCONI Field Trip to Braceville, IL for Mazon Creek Fossils – Saturday, May 30th and Sunday, May 31st, 2026
The ESCONI field trips to Braceville for Mazon Creek fossils are set for May 30th and 31st, 2026 from 9 AM to 3 PM. You can attend one or the other, but not both days. There is an attendance limit of 50 people each day. You must register to go on this trip. See rule…
-
PBS Eons: When the Earth Had Supermountains
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about some truly giant mountains and the evolutionary changes they drove.
-
Science Quickly: The dinosaurs at your window: How birds survived the asteroid that killed all other dinosaurs
Scientific American’s “Science Quickly” had an interview with Steve Brusatte on a recent episode. Steve’s new book “The Story of Birds” is available to day April 28th, 2026.
-
Mazon Monday #319: ESCONI Braceville Trip Spring 2005
Our spring trip to Braceville Spoil Pile is coming up in May. The sign-up will kick off very soon. We have been going there for many years. For the spring trip in 2005, Barbara Brotman, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune was there to talk to a few ESCONI members and talk about ESCONI.
-
Early Triassic Cyclidan Crustacean Had Powerful Jaws
Sci-News has an article about a distinctive, but enigmatic, group of arthropods called Cyclidans. Cyclidans appeared during the Carboniferous and hung around until the Late Cretaceous.
-
Science Quickly: The fans who went from collecting Pokémon to studying bugs and fossils
Science American’s “Science Quickly” had a recent episode about the upcoming Pokemon display at the Field Museum. Arjan Mann, Field Museum Curator of Early Tetrapods, was one of the guests.
-
Fossil Friday #314: Kellibrooksia macrogaster
For today’s fossil, we have a beautiful specimen of Kellibrooksia macrogaster, which was a species of mantis shrimp (see Mazon Monday #105). This rare animal was described by Frederick Schram in 1973. It was named in honor of Harold Kelly Brooks, who published the first well-illustrated modern account of Mazon Creek crustaceans. A pdf of his work is…
-
Video for ESCONI April 2026 Paleontology Meeting – “Digging the Marl of the Lance Formation”
The April 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting featured Keith Robitschek and his presentation “Digging the Marl of the Lance Formation”.
-
Video for ESCONI April 2026 General Meeting – “Life in the Devonian Period, The Age of Fishes”
The April 2026 General Meeting was held on April 10th, 2026 at 8:00 via Zoom. At the meeting, Jessica Hull presented “Life in the Devonian Period, The Age of Fishes.”
-
Mazon Monday #318: Eusphenopteris neuropteroides
Eusphenopteris neuropteroides is an extinct seed fern species that is relatively uncommon, though it is primarily known from the terrestrial deposits of Mazon Creek. It was originally described as Pseudopecopteris anceps by Leo Lesquereux, but its classification has shifted over time as its relationships to other taxa became better understood. Over the years, it has…
-
The revolution in dinosaur science started 50 years ago—here’s what we have learned
Phys.org has a story about the dinosaur renaissance that started about 50 years ago. Before the research that led to the revolution in dinosaur science, dinosaurs were thought to dumb, slow, lumbering animals that went extinct because mammals were faster and smarter. Bone histology, birds as dinosaurs, feathers, lifespan, diet, and behavior are just a…
-
Reminder: MAPS Expo XLVII – April 24-26, 2026 in Springfield, IL
The Mid-America Paleontology Society (MAPS) 2026 Expo XLVII is being held from April 24th to 26th, 2026 at the Joe Orr Building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois. The topic for the show is “Fossil Preparation and Archiving”.
-
Fossil Friday #313: Mazonomya mazonensis
George Witaszek sent us this breathtaking plate platter of Mazonomya mazonensis (see Mazon Monday #25). This animal was called “clam-clam” by collectors. Mazonomya mazonensis was known incorrectly as Edmondia for a long time. It was redescribed by Jack Bailey in the book “Paleobiology, Paleoecology, and Systematics of Solemyidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Protobranchia) from the Mazon Creek…
-
ESCONI April 2026 Paleontology Meeting via Zoom and in-person – “Digging the Marl of the Lance Formation”
The April 2026 Paleontology Study Group Meeting will feature Keith Robitschek and his presentation “Digging the Marl of the Lance Formation”. You can attend in-person at the College of DuPage, TEC, Room 1038B (Map). The meeting will also be available via Zoom.
-
Mazon Monday #317: Pohlsepia Revisited — Not an Octopus After All
A new paper “Synchrotron data reveal nautiloid characters inPohlsepia mazonensis, refuting a Palaeozoic origin for octobrachians” in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences refutes the classification of Pohlsepia mazonensis as an octopus and reclassifies it as a soft-bodied nautiloid with the new name Paleocadmus pohli.
-
Ancient bees found nesting inside fossil bones in rare cave discovery
Science Daily has a post about a recent paper that looked at novel bee nesting behavior. Researchers working on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola discovered a rare and unusual fossil interaction in a cave, ancient bees used fossilized bones as nesting sites.
-
Fossil Friday #312: Sublepidophloios protuberans with a spray of Cyperites bicarinatus
At first glance, today’s fossil might look like a cone. But, closer examination reveals it to be a nice specimen of Sublepidophloios protuberans with a spray of Cyperites bicarinatus at the top. Sublepidophloios protuberans is a species of lycopsid branch (see Mazon Monday #316) and Cyperites bicarinatus was the sterile leaves for the Lycopsida (see Mazon…
-
Throwback Thursday #312: Ron Schinderle Donation
Barb Schinderle stopped by ESCONI Show last month to drop off a donation of her late husband Ron’s fossils. Ron passed away in 2021. He was a long time ESCONI member and an avid fossil collector . He went on many ESCONI field trips. A group of us remember him fondly from our many trips…
-
ESCONI April 2026 General Meeting via Zoom – “Life in the Devonian Period, The Age of Fishes”
The April 2026 General Meeting will be held on April 10th, 2026 at 8:00 via Zoom. At the meeting, Jessica Hull will present “Life in the Devonian Period, The Age of Fishes.” The Devonian Period was a crucial moment in the history of life. In this presentation, Jessica Hull will bring fossils to life by…
