Tag: Silurian
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Throwback Thursday #310: History of the Thornton Quarry
Ran across this interesting episode of “It’s History” on Youtube…. “Why This Highway Runs Through Chicago’s Biggest Hole”. It’s about the Thornton Quarry and one of the founders of Chicago, Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard, who is the namesake of Hubbard Street in Chicago.
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Hidden Secret in the Field Museum’s Silurian Diorama
The Field Museum has a very nice Silurian marine diorama, which includes crinoids, cephalopods, corals, trilobites, and more from the Silurian period. It’s meant to represent what the Chicago area looked like during the Silurian Period. Much of the insight comes from the the fossils found in Thornton Quarry. There is a little secret with…
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WPR: A portal into underwater, prehistoric Wisconsin found in the heart of Waukesha County
Wisconsin Public Day has an article about fossils from Waukesha County, including a the oldest known leech in the fossil record. The fossil deposit is commonly referred to as the Waukesha Lagerstätte. A few years ago, researchers found the world’s oldest fossilized scorpion at the site. The Waukesha Biota, also known as the Waukesha Lagerstätte,…
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Will County Forest Preserve: Silurian Trilobite Souvenirs
Event details ***Please note this program is being offered virtually via Zoom.*** Join Donald G. Mikulic for a fascinating look at the trilobite fossils left behind by the Silurian Sea that was once right here in Will County! Mikulic was a senior paleontologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and served as the curator of…
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Paleontologist Discovers First Known Silurian Horseshoe Crab
SciNews has an article about the discovery of a horseshoe crab fossil in the Silurian. Horseshoe crabs are known from the late Ordovician, but there was a gap of 80 million years from the Devonian. This animal, Ciurcalimulus discobolus, lived about 424 million years ago. It was collected by Samuel J. Ciurca in 1975 from the Kokomo Member…
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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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Throwback Thursday #263: Looking Back At ESCONI For May 2025
This is Throwback Thursday #263. 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. AMNH Sylvania, Ohio – Trilobites in the Heartland AMNH Eldredgeops milleri 25 Years Ago – May 2000…
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Throwback Thursday #252: Field Trip to Thornton Quarry – April 24th, 1955
This is Throwback Thursday #252. 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. If you live on the southside of Chicago, you are probably aware of the large holes on…
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ESCONI Field Trip to the Napoleon Quarry in Napoleon, IN – for Ordovician/Silurian Fossils – Saturday, October 26th, 2024
Cystoid from a field trip to Napoleon – from a University of Kentucky website. There will be a field trip for ESCONI members on Saturday, October 26, 2024, to the quarry just east of Napoleon, Indiana. We need to meet, no exceptions, at the quarry entrance at 8:30 a.m. EDT. We have the chance to collect…
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ESCONI Field Trip to Napoleon, IN for Silurian/Ordovician Fossils – Saturday, June 1, 2024
Cystoid from a field trip to Napoleon – from a University of Kentucky website. There will be a field trip for ESCONI members on Saturday, June 1, 2024, to the quarry just east of Napoleon, Indiana. We need to meet at the quarry entrance at 8:30 a.m. EDT. We have the chance to collect Silurian…
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Fossil Friday #211: Lemont Calymene From the Past
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #211. 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 combination Throwback…
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PBS Eons: The Huge Extinctions We Are Just Now Discovering
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about ocean extinctions during the Silurian Period. It wasn't the quiet time that was once thought. What graptolites tell us is a story of incredible changes in the ocean, of periods where the oceans became poisonous and suffocating before eventually clearing up again. They unlock extinctions…
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Throwback Thursday #182: Looking Back At ESCONI for October 2023
This is Throwback Thursday #182. 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! 25 Years Ago – October 1998 50 Years Ago – October 1973 70 Years Ago – October 1953
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Wonderful Early Silurian Life
Sci-News has a story about interesting new fossils from Wisconsin. The Waukesha Biota, a Silurian lagerstatten located near Milwaukee, dates to about 437 million years ago. The deposit preserves an ancient tidal lagoon. The fossils are found in a fine-grained mudstone known as the Brandon Bridge Formation. The locality and its fauna are described in…
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ESCONI Field Trip to Vulcan Manteno Quarry on Saturday, October 28th, 2023 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
This trip is full! A waiting list is being kept. There will be an ESCONI Field Trip to the Vulcan Manteno Quarry on Saturday October 28, 2023 from 9 AM to 12 noon. We last visited this location in 2018. The rock there is Silurian dolomite. The quarry is located at 6141 Highway 50, Manteno,…
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Fossil Friday #175: Calymene from Naperville
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #175. 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 received another Fossil Friday contribution from…
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Haul of Fossil Fish Pushes Back the Origin of Teeth and Jaws
Smithsonian Magazine has a post about some amazing fish fossils. A series of papers published in the journal Nature shed light on the evolution of teeth and jaws. The discovery of these fossil fish from the Silurian of China has pushed back the oldest jawed fish to about 436 million years ago. Previously, the oldest…
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Fossil Friday #127: Calymene Trilobite
This is “Fossil Friday” post #127. 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! Today, we have a gorgeous trilobite from long-time…
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Fossil Friday #116: Waldon Shale Fossils
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #116. 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 some Silurian fossils from southern…
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Throwback Thursday #112: April 1990 Field Trip to St. Paul and Brookville, IN
This is Throwback Thursday #112. 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! ESCONI has been visiting St. Paul, IN for Silurian fossils for a long time. In 1990, there was…
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TRIP FULL! – ESCONI Field Trip to the St. Paul Quarry in St. Paul, IN – Friday, May 27th, 2022, 8:30 AM – 3:00ish PM
Trip full! A waiting list will be kept. Please let us know if you can’t make it. On Friday, May 27, there will be a ESCONI Field Trip to the St. Paul quarry , St. Paul, Indiana. We have been instructed to meet at the quarry office just south of the town of St. Paul…
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Will County Forest Preserve: “Fossils: Frozen in Time” – Saturday, February 5th, 2022
The Will County Forest Preserve District has an lecture event on Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 1:30 PM at the Four Rivers Environmental Education Center. FOSSILS: FROZEN IN TIME EVENT INFORMATIONDate: Saturday, 02/05/2022Time: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PMFee: Free!Age: Ages 5 or older.Contact Phone: 815.722.9470Location: Four Rivers Environmental Education Center (View on Google Maps) Photo…
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Ancient dog-size sea scorpion unearthed in China
LiveScience has a story about the recent discovery of a Euryperid. Eurypterids were the apex predators of their time. This one, Terropterus xiushanensis, lived about 435 million years ago during the lower Silurian in what is now modern-day China. It was described in a paper in the journal Science Bulletin.
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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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Fossil Friday #65: Waldron Shale Echinoderms
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #65. 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 Friday we have some beautiful echinoderms…
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Video: ESCONI March 2021 General Meeting – “The Big Hill Lagerstätte”
The ESCONI March 2021 General Meeting is on March 12, 2021 at 8:00. The program will be presented via Zoom by Dr. James Lamsdell of West Virginia University. Dr. Lamsdell studies Paleozoic arthropods such as eurypterids and xiphosurans (horseshoe crabs and their relatives). He recently published on the fauna of the Ordovician “Big Hill” Lagerstatte…
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The Big Hill Lagerstätte
The University of Michigan has an interesting post about a new Lagerstatte, which was discovered in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan back in 2013. This fossil deposit dates to the Silurian Period about 430 million years ago. Over 40 species of animals have been discovered at the locality, including soft bodied animals like Jellyfish.…
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Fossil Friday #8: Trilobites from St. Paul Quarry
This is the “Fossil Friday” post #8. 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! —————————————————– Trilobites from the St. Paul Stone…
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Throwback Thursday #9: Field Trip To Larson Quarry in DeKalb September 19th, 2009
This is Throwback Thursday #9. 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! ESCONI has had a long history of field trips to the old Elmer Larson (now Vulcan) Quarry in…
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Throwback Thursday #4: Pictures From a Field Trip To St. Paul Stone Company on October 30th, 2010
This is Throwback Thursday #4. In these, we look back in the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general. If you have and contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc …), please sent them to email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! The following pictures are from a field trip to St. Paul Stone Company in St. Paul, IN on…
