Tag: fossils
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Fossil Friday #72: Galena Fossils
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #72. 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 are stepping away from Mazon Creek…
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ESCONI Field Trip to a Rockford Quarry Saturday, October 2, 2021, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Rockford Quarry Field Trip There will be a field trip to a quarry near Rockford, Illinois on Saturday, October 2, 2021, from 9AM to 12 noon. The rock is Ordovician, Galena Group. This is a “hard-rock” quarry (dolomite). There may also be glacial deposits, including gravel, in place (not washed and processed) making it possible…
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Mazon Monday #75: Arthrolycosa danielsi
This is Mazon Monday post #75. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. After posting James Alann’s outstanding specimen of Arthrolycosa danielsi, I was curious and had to know a little more, so I spent some time digging… The name Arthrolycosa means “wolf spider”. Specimens have been also found in the Kirov…
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Two New Appalachian Dinosaurs Discovered
SciNews has a post about two new dinosaurs from Allalachia during the Cretaceous Period. Back in the Cretaceous Period, North America was bisected by the Western Interior Seaway. In the west was Laramidia for which the fossil record is very rich. The land mass to the east is called Appalachia. Much less is know about…
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PBS Eons: How the Starfish got its Arms
PBS Eons has a new episode over on Youtube. This one is about echinoderm evolution… how the starfish got its arms. The story of how the starfish got its arms reminds us that even animals that might be familiar to us today can have incredibly deep histories – ones that stretch back almost half…
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Fossil Friday #71: Arthrolycosa danielsi
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #71. 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 many collectors, spiders represent the pinnacle…
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Exciting Paleontological Discoveries You Probably Missed in July 2021
Tales of Prehistory, a blog by Panos Grigorakakis on Medium, has a new interesting post. He’s a science journalist that has been doing a series of “Exciting Paleontological Discoveries You Probably Missed” each month for a little while now. They are a good summary of all things paleontological during a given month. Actually, all of…
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Mazon Monday #74: Langford Book 3
This is Mazon Monday post #74. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. We recently ran across an interesting article in the July/August 1996 edition of the ESCONI newsletter that details the story of the donation of the original notebook manuscripts of the two original Langford books and the unpublished book three. …
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Reconstruction of Tyrannosaur Braincases Shows More Variation Than Previously Thought
SciTechDaily has a story about tyrannosaur skulls. Researchers in Canada and Argentina scanned the skulls to reconstruct the braincase of two well-preserved Daspletosaurs. Their research, which found more variation than expected, was published in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. Among the fierce carnivores that lived during the late Cretaceous was a predator named Daspletosaurus. The massive tyrannosaur,…
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Trip Full – ESCONI Field Trip to Braceville, IL for Mazon Creek Fossils – Saturday, September 11th and Sunday, September 12th, 2021
The Braceville Field Trip is currently full, however we are taking names for the waiting list. The ESCONI field trips to Braceville for Mazon Creek fossils are set for Sept 11 and 12, 2021 from 9 AM to 3 PM. You can attend one or the other, but not both days. There is an overall…
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Thick-shelled turtle egg with embryo still inside from the Cretaceous period found in China
Phys.org has a story about the discovery of a turtle embryo in a fossilized egg. The fossil egg was found in China’s Henan Province and dates to the Cretaceous Period. The egg was described in a paper in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in…
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Fossil Friday #70: Mariopteris
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #70. 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 very nice…
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ESCONI Fall Sale Saturday, October 16th, 2021
E S C O N I Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois Mineral and Fossil SaleSaturday, October 16, 202110 AM to 5 PMDuPage County FairgroundsWheaton, ILActivities include:Minerals and fossils for sale, silent and live auctions,geode splitting, kid’s activities, book sales,demonstrators and displays.For more information seewww.esconi.org Location – Admission and Parking are free!
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Oldest Fossilized Land Plant Spores Have Scientists Rethinking How Plants Evolved
Science Alert has a story about the oldest land plants. In rock samples from the Canning Basin in Western Australia, scientists have found clues to early land plant evolution. These samples come from deposits that date to the lower Ordovician about 480 million years ago when land plants were small and moss-like. The research can…
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Mazon Monday #73: Architarbus rotundatus
This is Mazon Monday post #73. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. For this week, we are going to cover the same species of spider we featured in our recent Fossil Friday #69, Architarbus rotundatus. Paleozoic spider-like arachnids are an interesting group. Most lack the ability to produce silk and so…
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17 Pictures that will make you want to become a Geologist
ZME Science has a post that will definitely make you want to consider geology as a career. It’s filled with stunning photos from mountains to fossils to minerals. It makes me want to go back to school! Check a few examples from the article below, but don’t miss the full article.
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PBS Eons: Where Are All the Medium-Sized Dinosaurs?
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about T. rex and the other carnivores that lived (or didn’t live) along side them. The remains of medium-sized predatory dinosaurs are pretty rare in places where giant predators like T. rex existed. Which is weird, because that’s just not how ecosystems work today.
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Fossil Friday #69: Mazon Creek Spider!
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #69. 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 many fossil collectors, Tully Monsters…
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Throwback Thursday #71: “Sentimental”
This is Throwback Thursday #71. 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! Today, we have the poem entitled “The Title of the Picture Sentimental” from the November 1968 edition of…
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A Terrifying ‘Dragon’ Was The Largest Known Flying Reptile of Ancient Australia
Science Alert has a story about a terrifying new pterosaur recently described from Australia. It had a seven-meter wingspan, bristling teeth in its jaws, and it flew through the air! That’s how a new pterosaur from Australia has been described. Named Thapunngaka shawi, it lived about 110 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. The…
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The world’s oldest fossilized forest is in Greene County. It needs saving
The Times Union in Albany, New York has a story about the world’s oldest fossilized forest. The forest was discovered in a quarry in Cairo, NY, near where other ancient trees were discovered in Gilboa, NY. These lycopsid “tree” fossils date to the Devonian Period, about 400 million years ago. They were described in a…
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Mazon Monday #72: Index of Posts
This is Mazon Monday post #72. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. We’ve been doing Mazon Monday posts for almost 1.5 years now. And. it seems like an index of posts would be helpful. Hard to believe all the topics we have covered! Let is know your favorite and any suggestions…
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Scientists name new frog-legged beetle fossil for Sir David Attenborough
Phys.org has a story about a newly described fossil insect. The beetle, Pulchritudo attenboroughi, is named for Sir David Attenborough. The name means “Attenborough’s Beauty”. It was found in what is now Colorado in the famous Green River Formation. The full description of the insect appeared in a paper in the journal Papers in Paleontology.…
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Fossil Friday #68: Multi Essexella asherae
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #68. 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! Being soft bodied makes jellyfish extremely rare…
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Throwback Thursday #70: “They’re Selling What?!?”
This is Throwback Thursday #70. 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! The following article appeared in the September 1976 edition of the ESCONI newsletter. Coprolites are popular items for…
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Pterosaurs may have been able to fly as soon as they hatched
ScienceNews has a story about pterosaurs. New research suggests that pterosaur hatchlings might have been able to fly right after hatching. This study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. Pterosaur hatchlings may have been able to fly right out of the shell — although the flight of those ancient baby reptiles might have looked…
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Field Trip Report: Starved Rock Clay Pit, July 24th, 2021
Here’s a field trip report from ESCONI Vice President Dave Carlson for the Starved Rock Clay Pit field trip back on July 24th, 2021. Usually we are concerned about mud at the clay pit, but not this time. It was quite dry for this trip, even to the point where some rain would have been…
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Mazon Monday #71: Fossil Brains From a Horseshoe Crab
This is Mazon Monday post #71. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Mazon Creek is categorized as a Lagerstatte due to the extraordinary preservation. For Mazon Creek, this presentation quite often includes soft bodied animals and soft tissues. Last week, there were a whole bunch of stories about a fossilized brain…
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PBS Eons: The Island of the Last Surviving Mammoths
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about the last surviving mammoths, who survived until just a few thousand years ago. The Wrangel Island mammoths would end up being the final survivors of a once-widespread genus. In their final years, after having thrived in many parts of the world for millions of…
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Fossil Friday #67: Esconichthys apopyris
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #67. 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! Back to Mazon Creek for this weeks…
