Tag: paleontology
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Three Rivers Library Minooka Branch Hosting an Exhibition of Locally Found Pleistocene Mammal Fossils
The Three Rivers Library Minooka Branch is currently hosting an exhibition of Pleistocene mammal fossils found by a local farmer, John Bamford. in rural Minooka. The bones, found in 1901, were rescued from deterioration and oblivion by George Langford Sr. in 1912. The bones eventually were acquired by The Field Museum. The most famous of…
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The FOSSIL Project Newsletter Spring 2017
Volume 4, Issue 1, Spring 2017|FOSSIL Project Newsletter Spring 2017
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Lyme Regis Presentation Announcement for Paleo Group meeting, April 15th, 2017
ESCONI Presentation – Saturday, April 15, 2017Paleontology Study Group Meeting – 7:30 PM College of Dupage – Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038B In the Footsteps of Mary Anning: Collecting England’s Jurassic Coast.This past February, five ESCONI Women took to the beaches of Lyme Regis and Charmouth of famed Dorset County where Mary Anning made…
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BBC: Legendary Dinosaurs That We All Imagine Completely Wrong
BBC earth has a post about common misconceptions of various popular dinosaurs. Velociraptor, Archaeopteryx, Triceratops, and yes, Tyrannosaurus rex are just a few of the ones listed. Like many children, I had a severe dinosaur phase. There was a period of my life when I cared more about prehistoric reptiles than pretty much anything else.…
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The Field Museum’s Response to the Recent Tully Monster Paper
The Field Museum blog has a reply to the recent Tully Monster paper that disagreed with the determination of the Tully Monster as a vertebrate, which appeared in a couple papers published last year in Nature. Last year, two papers in the journal Nature sought to resolve what group of animals Tully Monster fossils belong…
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Dr. Ken Angielczyk of the Field Museum will be the May 2017 General Meeting Speaker
The speaker for the May general meeting will be Dr. Ken Angielczyk, Associate Curator at the Field Museum. His program will center on his field work in locations such as Antarctica, Tanzania and South Africa recovering fossils of anomodont therapsids, an extinct clade of non-mammalian synapsids (“mammal-like reptiles”).
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MinuteEarth: Why Did T Rex Have Such Tiny Arms?
MinuteEarth on YouTube has a neat little video about T Rex and it’s tiny arms. Enjoy!
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400 million year old gigantic extinct monster worm discovered in Canadian museum
Phys.org has a post about a gigantic worm which lived about 400 million years ago. The fossil species was discovered back in 1994 by Derek K Armstrong of the Ontario Geologic Survey. He had been dropped by helicopter to investigate the rocks and fossils in a remote and temporary exposure in Ontario. The species has…
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‘Tully monster’ mystery is far from solved, group argues
Phys.org has a story about our friend the Tullymonster. Recall that last year there was quite a bit of discussion about the classification of the Illinois State Fossil. Two independent groups of scientist published paper last Spring, one claiming that it was a vertebrate and one even claimed it to be a primitive lamprey. Now…
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Paleontological Resources Preservation Act (PRPA) of 2009 Issues In a Nutshell
It’s down to the wire. Comments on the DOI (BLM) proposed PRPA rules will only be accepted until Monday, February 6th, 2017. Here are the issues in a nutshell: 1 “Casual collecting” is too restrictive 2 “Common” is not defined, and it should be noted that only scientifically valuable specimens are what PRPA intend should be in repositories,…
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The February 2017 General Meeting is “An examination of a historic collection of hadrosaurid dinosaur material from the San Juan Basin, New Mexico”
The program at the next ESCONI general meeting (Feb 10 at 8 PM TEC 1038B at COD) will be “An examination of a historic collection of hadrosaurid dinosaur material from the San Juan Basin, New Mexico” by Dr. Merrilee Guenther of Elmhurst College. Come out and join us for an interesting night!
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The End of Petrified Wood Collecting on Public Lands?
SaveFossilCollecting has a post about the new proposed fossil collecting regulations on public lands. The article does a good job explaining the issue. Additionally, there are other informative posts on the website. Petrified wood represents a stone of unique interest in the hearts and minds of the many collectors found in virtually every part of…
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Preserved Trilobite eggs from the Ordovician of New York State
Sciency Thoughts has a story about pyritized trilobite eggs. The eggs were found associated with 2 Triarthrus eatoni trilobites from the Ordovician Whetstone Gulf Formation (Lorraine Group), in upstate New York. The eggs were found in the cephala (head) of the trilobites, which is similar to the method of reproduction in Horseshoe Crabs. In Horseshoe…
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The February 2017 General Meeting is about historic hadrosaurid material from the San Juan Basin, New Mexico
Our February program will be presented by Dr. Merrilee Guenther, Associate Professor, Department of Biology Elmhurst College. The title of her talk is “An examination of a historic collection of hadrosaurid dinosaur material from the San Juan Basin, New Mexico” It should be a good one, come on out!
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Seeker: Giant Dinosaur Discoveries of 2016
Close-up of the feathered dinosaur tail in amber, with associated inclusions, such as insects. Credit: Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM/ R.C. McKellar) Seeker has a story about the “Giant” Dinosaur stories of 2016. There’s everything from new dinosaurs (Dragon Robber, Dawn Rough Tooth from the East, and Spiked Shield), Dancing Dinosaurs, Dinosaur Voice Box and Brain,…
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A Possible Break in One of Evolution’s Biggest Mysteries – Whales
jamesteohart / svrid79 / Benny Marty / imaginasty / Mara008 / Wikimedia / Flickr / The Atlantic The Atlantic has an interesting story about the evolution of whales. Whales have a strange history, from a dog-like creature to probably the largest animal ever on Earth. This article discusses the last 50 million years and how…
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CBC Quirks & Quarks: Check out this 99-million year old dino feather
A beetle is trapped in amber alongside a 99-million year old dinosaur feather. It was found in an amber market in Myanmar. (Ryan McKellar) A recreation of what a Maniraptora would have looked like, based on a 99-million year old feather found preserved in amber. (Ryan McKellar) CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks has a segment…
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St. Paul, IN Quarry Open House – December 20th, 21th, 22nd, and 23rd, 2016
The open collecting dates for the St. Paul quarry in December are: Tuesday, December 20th Wednesday, December 21st Thursday, December 22nd Friday, December 23rd Here is a map for directions. If anyone plans to go, please e-mail John Catalani (Fossilnautiloid@aol.com). He will inform the quarry. Be at the quarry at 8:00 am…
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Permia – Kickstarter with Prehistoric Life T-shirts
Permia is a Kickstarter for “Prehistoric Clothing & Collectibles – Dinosaur Art & More”. They are starting with T-shirts. Check it out!
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PBS NOVA: Making North America
If you’ve got some time this holiday season. Check out Nova’s three part series “Making North America”. It’s hosted by Kirk Johnson, who’s the head of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Making North America: Origins Making North America: Life Making North America: Human All are available are online as full episodes, ready to…
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Palaeocast Episode 71: Graptolites
Palaeocast has a new episode up. It’s called “Gaptolites”. If you’ve heard of them (or not heard of them) and wondered what they are, check it out. Graptolites are small colonial organisms, each made up of many tiny, genetically identical zooids joined together by tubes. They’ve been around since the Cambrian and at times in…
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All that glitters: the fossils of Lightning Ridge
A selection of stunning opalised fossils from Lightning Ridge Top: A ‘yabby button’ from a freshwater crayfish; pine cone; crocodile tooth; theropod dinosaur tooth. Bottom: pine cone; snail; turtle vertebra; sauropod dinosaur tooth. IMAGE CREDIT: Robert A. Smith/Australian Opal Centre Australian Geographic has an interesting post on the opalized fossils of Lightning Ridge in Australia.…
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Pickled Brains! First Known Dinosaur Brain Fossil Discovered
It might look like a tiny rock, but it’s actually dinosaur brain. (Jamie Hiscock) National Geographic has a story about a fossil dinosaur brain. The fossil was discovered back in 2004 on a Sussex beach. It dates to the Cretaceous Period, about 133 million years ago. The brain is believed to belong to a relative…
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ESCONI Best Fossil 2016 Winners – Saturday, October 15th, 2016
On Saturday, October 15th, 2016, the ESCONI Paleo Study Group held the 2nd Annual “Best Fossil Contest”. There were three categories, vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants. The winners in the vertebrate category were: The winners in the invertebrate category were: The winners in the plant category were:
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November 2016 Paleo Meeting – Ozarkian mollusks from eastern Missouri
The November program for the Paleo Study Group will be presented by ESCONI member Chris Cozart and is entitled; Ozarkian mollusks from eastern Missouri.
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ESCONI Best Fossil 2016 – Saturday, October 15th, 2016
BEST FOSSIL 2016Saturday, October 15th, 2016 7:30 PMRoom 1038B Tech Ed (TEC) BldgCollege of DuPage Glen Ellyn, Illinois See lots of great fossils!Bring your own fossils for identification. PUBLIC INVITED FREE! No cash prizes. Flyer and Rules
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Reminder October 2016 General Meeting: Roy Plotnick “Jurassic Pork: What Could a Jewish Time Traveler Eat?”
Octobers’s General Meeting will feature a presentation by Roy Plotnick. The presentation is entitled “Jurassic Pork: What Could a Jewish Time Traveler Eat?” Roy has spoken to us many times in the past. All of his presentations are very interesting and this one sounds just a provocative as all of the previous ones! It all…
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Smithsonian: Conservationists Want You to Stop Building Rock Piles
The Smithsonian’s SmartNews has a story about stone piles. The stone piles used as markers are sometimes referred to as cairns. For many years, cairns have been used to mark a memorial or landmark. Now, some conservationists are recommending that people stop making markers by stacking stones. The practice is causing environmental damage with erosion…
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ESCONI Paleo Meeting for September 2016 – Show and Tell
The September 2016 Paleo Study Group Meeting was “Show and Tell”. Traditionally, after the long summer, members bring in their finest finds. This year was no different. There were many great finds from Mazon Creek, to St. Paul IN, and back to the Plattville of IL. Here is a good sample of what was on…
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October 2016 General Meeting: Roy Plotnick “Jurassic Pork: What Could a Jewish Time Traveler Eat?”
Octobers’s General Meeting will feature a presentation by Roy Plotnick. The presentation is entitled “Jurassic Pork: What Could a Jewish Time Traveler Eat?” Roy has spoken to us many times in the past. All of his presentations are very interesting and this one sounds just a provocative as all of the previous ones! It all…
