Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

ESCONI Events January 2022

Welcome back!  Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings!

Sat, Jan 8th	ESCONI Junior Meeting - 7:00 PM Zoom - Topic: "Rocking on the Computer" Specifics of this meeting are available from Scott Galloway, 630-670-2591, gallowayscottf@gmail.com. Contact Scott to get the Zoom link to attend the virtual meeting and find out how to join the Juniors Club.
Fri, Jan 14th	ESCONI General Meeting 8:00 PM Zoom - Topic: “Through the Ages: How we Date Rocks and Geologic Processes” by Dr. Alyssa Abbey from California State University Long Beach.  Zoom link
Sat, Jan 15th	ESCONI Paleontology Meeting 7:30 PM - Topic: "Rise of the Nautiloids" by John Catalani.  No hybrid meeting this month do to the Covid surge.  Zoom link

 

ESCONI 2022 Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show! March 19th and 20th, 2022 #gem #mineral #fossil #show #2022

Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois

ESCONI

2022

Gem, Mineral and Fossil

Show

March 19th and 20th

Dealers, Demonstrators, Displays, Live and Silent Auctions,
Book Sales, Kid’s Korner, Geode Splitting

Free Parking! Free Admission!

DuPage County Fairgrounds
2015 Manchester Rd.
Wheaton, Illinois
Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM
Sunday 10 AM to 4 PM
www.esconi.org

Download Show Flyer

Mazon Monday #95: Species Spotlight - Neuropteris vermicularis #fossil #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #plant #seedfern

This is Mazon Monday post #95.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com.

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After Lesquereux (1870)

For this post, we are looking at another seed fern species, Neuropteris vermicularis.  N. vermicularis was identified by Leo Lesquereux in 1866.  He described much of the North American Carboniferous flora in the mid 1800's as a consultant to various US state geological surveys.  His book "Atlas to the Coal Flora of Pennsylvania and the Carboniferous Formation throughout the United States" written from 1879 to 1884 was the standard reference for the Carboniferous flora in the US for many years.

Lesquereux in 1864, from Wikipedia

In 1969, William Cup Darrah, a paleobotanist of some note, assigned various species of Neuropteris as forms of Neuropteris ovata, (see Mazon Monday #85).  His reasoning was Neuropteris ovata is highly variable and N. vermicularis, and some other species of Neuropteris (N. flexuosa, N. plicata, N. gigantea, N. heterophylla, N. obliqua, N. loschi, and Mixoneura jenneyi) were best described as variable forms of N. ovata.  This theory has been disregarded and most of these are still assigned as separate species.

From "ESCONI Keys to Identify Pennsylvanian Fossil Plants of the Mazon Creek Area"

In Jack Wittry's book "A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek", here is the entry for N vermicularis.

Neuropteris vermicularis Lesquereux, 1866

1866. Neuropteris vermicularis Lesquereux: p. 428
1870. Neuropteris vermicularis Lesquereux: p. 385, pl. 6, figs. 1-3
1879-80. Neuropteris vermicularis Lesquereux: p. 99, pl. 10, figs. 5-10
1925. Neuropteris ovata; Noé: pl. 20, fig. 3; non pl. 21, fig. 4 = ovata
1925. Neuropteris flexuosa; Noé: p. 14, pl. 20, fig. 1; pl. 23, fig. 3; non pl. 21, figs. 2, 3
1925. Neuropteris vermicularis; Noé: p. 14, pl. 24, fig. 1
1940. Neuropteris flexantea; Janssen: p. 91, pl. 25, fig. 2
1958. Neuropteris flexuosa; Langford: p. 202, fig. 358
1958. Neuropteris gigantea; Langford: p. 201, figs. 356, 357, 359
1958. Neuropteris tenuifolia; Langford: p. 211, fig. 365; non fig. 366, non text
1969. Neuropteris ovata forma vermicularis; Darrah: p. 107, pl. 2, figs. 1, 2
1979. Neuropteris gigantea; Janssen: p. 152, figs. 142, 143
1979. Neuropteris tenuifolia; Janssen: fig. 141, non text

DESCRIPTION: The pinnae vary in shape from linear to linear-lanceolate or triangular, depending on placement on the frond. The rachis is heavy and straight. The pinnules are alternate, slightly oblique, and oblong. At the pinnule base, the basiscopic side has a small auricle; the acroscopic side is rounded. The venation is open near the midvein and fairly fine at the margins, with a count of 20 to 40 veins per centimeter. The midvein is strong at the base and disappears near the middle. The lateral veins are strong, arched, and divide twice or sometimes three times in more developed pinnules before meeting the margin. The terminal pinnule is lanceolate, longer than it is wide, symmetrical at the apex, and tends to become relatively smaller compared with the lateral pinnules as the pinnae become larger. The shape of the terminal pinnule base varies depending on the degree of separation of the nearest lateral pinnules.

REMARKS: Neuropteris vermicularis is very common. As can be seen in the synonymy list, this form has, for various reasons, been placed into several taxa. The most commonly misused name is Neuropteris gigantea, which is a Paripteris and is found only in older strata. Paripteris is characterized by paired pinnules at the pinna apex. This is unlike N. vermicularis with its single, large terminal pinnule. Also see Neuropteris ovata and Neuropteris flexuosa.

Specimens

PBS Eons: How Our Deadliest Parasite Turned To The Dark Side #malaria #paleontology #parasite #dna #biology #fossil #mosquito

 

There's a new episode of PBS Eons.  This one is about the origin of malaria.  Did you know that Plasmodium is a plant?!?

Around 10,000 years ago, somewhere in Africa, a microscopic parasite made a huge leap. With a little help from a mosquito, it left its animal host - probably a gorilla - and found its way to a new host: us.

 

Fossil Friday #91: Paleocaris typus from the Mazon River #fossil #paleontology #MazonCreek #FossilFriday #illinois #shrimp

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #91.  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!

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Back in Mazon Monday #65, we spotlighted Paleocaris typus.  And today, we have sweet little specimen from the Mazon River just outside Morris, IL.  These syncarid shrimps are often mistaken for Acanthotelson stimpsonii (spotlighted back in Mazon Monday #52), which is also a syncarid shrimp.  The major distinguishing characteristic between the two, are their tails.  P. typus has a proper telson, while A. stimpsonii has a spiky tail.  Unfortunately, this specimen is missing the tail.  Some prep work might be able to bring it to light.  However, there are other differences between the two species that can be used for identification.  P. typus tends to be slimmer than A. stimpsonii, which is why we are calling this one P. typus.

This concretion was collected at the August 2020 I&M Canal Fossil Collecting event.   It sat in a bucket for almost a year, finally pulled out to empty a bucket for the 2021 event.  It took a little over 5 months of freeze/thaw to open it up, which would be about 40 cycles.

Throwback Thursday #93: Gorgeous George #fossil #dinosaur #paleontology @SUEtheTrex @FieldMuseum

This is Throwback Thursday #93.  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 sent them to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Thanks!

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Before Máximo, before SUE, before Brachiosaurus, there was George.

Before there was SUE the T. rex, there was "Gorgeous George".  If you are old enough to remember when SUE first showed up at the Field Museum, you probably remember the "T. rex." in the Field Museum's main gallery, where it stood over a Lambeosaurus.  As a kid, I really loved that display.  It was the dinosaur centerpiece of the Field Museum from 1956 to 1992.   It was incorrectly called a Gorgosaurus for most of its "life".  That was corrected in 1999 and it is now known as a Daspletosaurus, a rare species of tyrannosaur.  "George" originally hailed from Alberta, Canada and was found by none other than Barnum Brown of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).  Brown found a few of the the first T. rex specimens, including the holotype.  "George" lived around 75 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period.  The full story can be found on the Field Museum website.

Children admire Gorgeous George shortly after the skeleton went on display in Stanley Field Hall in the 1950s.

Among dozens of other dinosaur fossils, Brown’s team recovered four skeletons of tyrannosaurs—the family of meat-eaters that includes Tyrannosaurus rex. At the time, scientists thought all four skeletons belonged to the same species: Gorgosaurus libratus. Three of the skeletons were on display at AMNH within the decade. Two can still be seen in New York today, while the third was traded to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in 1933. The fourth skeleton, which was larger but less complete than the others, remained in storage for several decades.

Fast-forward to 1955, when Field Museum board member Louis Ware approached AMNH with an offer to buy their spare Gorgosaurus. Ware’s counterparts at AMNH agreed, and soon the skeleton was on its way to Chicago. According to the March 1956 Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin, it was considered the most important acquisition in recent years.

...

From its snarling snout to the tip of its dragging tail, the completed Gorgosaurus was 26 feet long and 15 feet tall. Gilpin paired it with a prone Lambeosaurus skeleton, which was recovered by Field paleontologist Elmer Riggs in 1922 but never previously exhibited. This evocative predator-and-prey scene was unusual for the time, as dinosaur skeletons were usually given stiff, neutral poses.

Gorgeous George and the unfortunate Lambeosaurus were given pride of place at the south end of Stanley Field Hall. Staff artist Maidi Weibe rounded out the display with a miniature model of the two dinosaurs as they would have appeared in life. George debuted on March 27, 1956, with a special evening event for Field Museum members.

 

NYT: Fossils of a Prehistoric Rainforest Hide in Australia’s Rusted Rocks #fossil #paleontology #australia #iron #rainforest #insect

A fossilized wasp.Credit...Michael Frese a virologist and paleontologist at the University of Canberra

The New York Times has a story about an amazing fossil rain forest. Dating to about 15 million years ago during the Miocene Epoch, this deposit hold exquisitely preserved insects, spiders, plans, even a feather.  A description of the site was published recently in the journal Science Advances,

Fifteen million years ago, a river carved through the jungle, leaving an oxbow lake (known as a billabong in Australia) in its wake at McGraths Flat. Nearly devoid of oxygen, this stagnant pool kept scavengers at bay, allowing plant material and animal carcasses to accumulate. As iron-rich runoff from nearby basalt mountains seeped into the billabong, the pool’s low pH caused the iron to precipitate and encase the organic material. As a result, the fossils at McGraths Flat are preserved in a dense, iron-rich mineral known as goethite.

This method of fossilization is uncommon, Dr. Hocknull said. Because quality fossils are rarely found in iron deposits, paleontologists often overlook them. However, the fossils from McGraths Flat illustrate that goethite, which is common in Australia, can yield remarkable fossils.

“There’s no shortage of goethite,” Dr. Hocknull said. “We’re essentially a rusting country.”

ESCONI January 2022 General Meeting - January 14th, 2022 at 8:00 PM via Zoom - "Through the Ages: How we Date Rocks and Geologic Processes” #geology #rocks #dating #time

The January 2022 General Meeting will be held at 8:00 PM on January 14th, 2022 via Zoom.  Our speaker is Dr. Alyssa Abbey from California State University Long Beach.  The title of her talk is “Through the Ages: How we Date Rocks and Geologic Processes”.  

Join Zoom Meeting

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Mazon Monday #94: Species Spotlight - Calamites cistii #fossil #MazonMonday #paleontology #MazonCreek #pennsylvanian #illinois #plant

This is Mazon Monday post #94.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com.

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By Falconaumanni - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56797814

For this week, we are looking at Calamites, which is a genus of extinct arborescent (tree-like) horsetails.  They are sphenopsids.  Modern horsetails, genus Equistem, are fairly closely related.  Some of these Carboniferous plants could grow to heights of more than 100 feet (30+ meters).  Additionally, they were a key component of the forest understory and make a large part of Pennsylvanian coal deposits.  There are a few species of Calamites known in the Mazon Creek biota - including Calamites cistii, .  Also, note that while Calamites refers to the stem of sphenopsids, Annularia (see Mazon Monday #60), Asterophyllites, and Equisetites are other parts of the same group of plants.  George Langford has a great picture that details the individual parts.

This way of describing plants with different species for each part is called Form Genera.  It's due to the often fragmentary fossil preservation of plants.  A "Key" specimen has multiple associated plant parts and is used to tie the separate parts together.  The separate species names for plant parts allows paleontologists to discuss the various fossils that are found.  There is a good explanation in the concept in the "Keys to Identify Pennsylvanian Fossil Plants of the Mazon Creek Area".

THE CONCEPT OF FORM-GENERA IN IDENTIFYING FOSSIL PLANTS

Biologists and paleobiologists who study and classify organisms often find biological structures that cannot be confidently assigned to any known organismic species. Such structures -- mostly parts, life-stages, or sedimentary traces of organisms contain considerable biological information and provide insights into the morphology, life-style, and behavior of past (and present) species. For example, for many present-day fungi, both the asexual and sexual stages of the life-cycle is known, but each stage cannot be causally linked to the other. These stages may have separate, taxonomic names, yet belong to the same species. Similarly, trace fossils distinctively-shaped impressions and burrows indicating particular behavioral habits are given separate taxonomic names, and are not assuredly linked to any known fossil species.

And so it is with fossil plants, in which particular organs are preserved in isolation from other organs belonging to the same plant species. Thus plant leaves, roots, stems, fruits, seeds, and even pollen or spores, have separate taxonomic names. These names are termed "form genera". Several form-genera, each designating a specific part of the plant, can refer to a single fossil plant species, but it is often impossible to know which leaf-genus is associated with which seed-genus or pollen-genus, and so on.

Furthermore, in some cases it is clear that structures assigned to one form were actually produced by two or more different kinds of plants, e.g., Lepidophylloides produced by both Sigillaria and Lepidodendron. Therefore, even when we can demonstrate, or hypothesize, that two or more form-genera are actually part of a single plant species, we cannot be certain that all fragmentary specimens of the genera are correctly treated in this way. For these reasons, form-genera are an indispensable, if slightly confusing, tool in identifying fossil plants.

For this post, we are looking at the stem of Calamites, of which Calamites cistii is the most common.  Here is its entry in "A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek".

Calamites cistii Brongniart, 1828

1828. Calamites cistii Brongniart: p. 129, pl. 20
1879-80. Calamites cistii Brongniart; Lesquereux: p.
1899. Calamites cistii Brongniart; White: p. 149 27, pl. 1, fig. 6
1958. Calamites cisti Brongniart; Langford: p. 31, fig. 22
1969. Calamites cisti Brongniart; Crookall: p. 639, pl.
1969. Calamites cistii Brongniart; Darrah: p. 171, 123, fig. 1
1979. Calamites cisti Brongniart; Janssen: p. 80, fig. 61

DESCRIPTION: The nodes are not contracted and are regularly spaced along the stem. The internodes are longer than they are wide. The ribs are thin, straight, half-round at their ends, and separated by striate furrows. The vascular canal scars, if present, are small, round, and indistinct. As with all calamite stems, only fossils formed as pith casts will have vascular canal scars. All figures shown here are of outer surfaces of stems.

REMARKS: Calamites in general are common, and Calamites cistii is the most frequently found species of this group in the Mazon Creek flora. It differs from Calamites suckowi in its more consistent internode length and narrower ribs.

Specimens

From George's Basement (George Langford)

E.O. Wilson’s lifelong passion for ants helped him teach humans about how to live sustainably with nature #EOWilson #biology #conservation #evolution

E.O. Wilson reflects on insect society, human society and the importance of biodiversity in 2009.

The Conversation has a story about E. O. Wilson, who he was and his contributions to the world.   Professor of Comparative Zoology at Harvard and a giant in the world of evolutionary biology, Wilson died on December 26th, 2021 at age 92.  His biggest message was for conservation of the natural world.

E. O. Wilson was an extraordinary scholar in every sense of the word. Back in the 1980s, Milton Stetson, the chair of the biology department at the University of Delaware, told me that a scientist who makes a single seminal contribution to his or her field has been a success. By the time I met Edward O. Wilson in 1982, he had already made at least five such contributions to science.

Wilson, who died Dec. 26, 2021 at the age of 92, discovered the chemical means by which ants communicate. He worked out the importance of habitat size and position within the landscape in sustaining animal populations. And he was the first to understand the evolutionary basis of both animal and human societies.

Each of his seminal contributions fundamentally changed the way scientists approached these disciplines, and explained why E.O. – as he was fondly known – was an academic god for many young scientists like me. This astonishing record of achievement may have been due to his phenomenal ability to piece together new ideas using information garnered from disparate fields of study.

Paleontologists Identify New Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur #fossil #dinosaur #paleontology #sauropod

Holotype right forelimb of Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis with individual elements in approximate anatomical position, shown in anterior view. Scale bar – 200 mm. Image credit: Upchurch et al., doi: 10.1080/02724634.2021.1994414.

SciNews has a story about a new species of dinosaur.  The new sauropod species is named Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis and it was identified from fossils found about 30 years ago.  The animal lived about 155 million years ago during the Late Jurassic Period.  All the details can be found in a paper published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleotology.

It was a member of the family Mamenchisauridae, a group of sauropod (herbivorous long-necked) dinosaurs known from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Asia and Africa.

“These dinosaurs added extra vertebrae to their necks to elongate them, and in addition to this made each individual neck vertebra longer,” Professor Paul Barrett, a paleontologist in the Department of Earth Sciences at University College London and the Department of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum, London, said in a statement.

“We don’t know why they did this, but we presume it was either a feeding adaptation or sexual selection.”

Fossil Friday #90: Asterophyllites equisetiformis #fossil #paleontology #horsetail #MazonCreek #FossilFriday #illinois

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #90.  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!

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This week's fossil is a specimen of Asterophyllites equisetiformis.  A. equisetiformis is an extinct form of horsetail, related to Annularia.  This particular fossil was found by Jim Konecny in the 1960's.  Jim was president of ESCONI in 1966.  He was a prolific fossil collector and has two Mazon Creek species named for him and his wife Sylvia.  Flashback Friday #30 was an article on Mazon Creek by both of them.

• Fossundecima konecniorum (a worm)
• Priapulites konecniorum (a worm)

Throwback Thursday #92: Looking Back at ESCONI for January 2022 #history #TBT #ThrowbackThursday

This is Throwback Thursday #92.  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 sent them to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Thanks!

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25 Years Ago - January 1997

• The speaker at the General Meeting was ESCONI member Warren Valsa, who did a presentation on the micro fauna fossils of Central Montana.
• The Paleontology Study Group was discussing Ordovician fossils.
• The Mineralogy Study Group was discussing copper again... the White Pines Copper Mine in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
• Archaeology was learning about the Terra Cotta warriors of China.
• Karl Everett became President of ESCONI.
• The American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AMFS) was celebrating its 50th anniversary.

50 Years Ago - January 1972

• The speaker for the General Meeting was Dr. Edward J. Olsen, Curator of Mineralogy, Geology Division for the Field Museum. He presented on meteorites.
• The Paleontology Study Group discussed the latest development in Pit 11.  Jim Konecny led the discussion.
• The Mineralogy Study Group looked at "Copper Minerals".
• On January 8th, the Lizzadro Museum had a lecture/slide show called "Dinosaurs".
• On January 15th, there was a field trip to the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago.
• Jean Reynolds became president of ESCONI.

70 Years Ago - January 1952

• The General Meeting had Professor L. L. Sloss of Northwestern University.  The topic was "Practical Uses For Paleontologists".
• December 1st, 1951 was the first meeting of the Archaeology Study Group
• An announcement in the newsletter said that ESCONI members could get a subscription discount on "Lapidary Journal", "Mineral Notes and News", and "Desert Magazine".
• The newsletter had a short article about the new method of measuring the age of archaeological and geologic specimens... C₁₄ dating.

10 coolest non-dinosaur fossils unearthed in 2021 #fossil #paleontology #2021 #MazonCreek

This fossilized horseshoe crab (Euproops danae), shown in the left image, held a perfectly preserved mold of its brain, shown close-up on the right. (Image credit: Russell Bicknell)

There are many posts recapping 2021 out there... LiveScience has one about 10 coolest non-dinosaur fossil discoveries of 2021.  Mazon Creek made the list with the discovery of a fossilized arachnid brain.

• Parasite-infested ant in amber
• Squid murdered mid-meal
• Ancient arachnid brain
• Billion-year-old fossil 'balls'
• Fossilized fish lung
• Giant hornless rhino
• Tiny 'immortal' crab
• Family of spider mummies
• Cephalopod grandaddy
• 'Winged' eagle shark

 

 

 

Trilobite Tuesday #36: 7th International Conference on Trilobites & Their Relatives - Cincinnati July 14th to 18th, 2022 #trilobite #cincinnati #paleontology

The Cincinnati Museum Center is sponsoring the 7th International Conference on Trilobites & Their Relatives from July 14th to 18th, 2022.  There are field trips both before and after the conference. 

• Registration
• Session Topics and Schedule
• Pre-Conference Field Trip
  Madison, Wisconsin
• Intra-Conference Field Trip
  Potential sites to visit: Sycamore Creek, Indian Hill; Mt. Orab, OH; Maysville, KY
• Post-Conference Field Trip
  Ordovician-Devonian of the Mohawk and Niagara-Lake Erie regions of western New York State

A Warm Welcome!

Welcome to the 7th International Conference on Trilobites & Their Relatives to be held at Cincinnati Museum Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A, July 14 to 18, 2022. We look forward to hosting participants from all corners of the globe in our iconic 1933 Art Deco Train Station, Union Terminal. To learn more about the history and architecture of this national historic landmark, pleased click here.

This international conference occurs every 4 years and attracts professional scientists, graduate and undergraduate students, serious amateur paleontologists, and interested members of the public. The goals of the conference are to present and discuss recent progress in studies on all aspects of trilobites and their relatives (e.g., morphology, evolution, phylogeny, ecology, development, and geography).

On-site registration and conference check in will be the evening of July 14 at the icebreaker event at Rhinegeist Brewery and the morning of July 15 in the rotunda of Union Terminal (Cincinnati Museum Center). More details to follow.

The Icebreaker Event will be the evening of July 14 at Rhinegeist Brewery. Light hors d’oeuvres will be provided. For more information on this venue, please see rhinegeist.com.

Morning and afternoon coffee, tea, snacks, and lunch will be provided during the three days of sessions at Union Terminal. Dinner is not provided except for the banquet on July 18.

The intra-conference field trip to the type-Cincinnatian Series will be Sunday July 17. Water, snacks, lunch, and transportation will be provided for the day.

Please be advised that CMC is a smoke- and tobacco-free building.

 

Mazon Monday #93: Dr. Victoria McCoy: Mazon Creek Fossils #fossil #paleontology #MazonMonday #MazonCreek #illinois

This is Mazon Monday post #93.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com.

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ESCONI member Ralph Jewell sent me this link for a video of a presentation by Dr. Victoria McCoy of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Department of Geosciences.  Her presentation is entitled "Mazon Creek Fossils". 

Dr. Victoria McCoy, UWM Department of Geosciences, discusses the Mazon Creek Lagerstätte: A diverse late Paleozoic ecosystem entombed within siderite concretions during the Fall Colloquium, Dec. 6, 2021.

Victoria has been active in Mazon Creek research.  You might remember her as lead author on a study of the Tully Monster back 2016 that found it to be a vertebrate.  She was interviewed about that research on Palaeocast #62.

Here is a list of some of her papers relevant to Mazon Creek.  You can find more about her on her page at the UWM.

• McCoy VE, Wiemann J, Lamsdell JC, Whalen CD, Lidgard S, Mayer P, Petermann H, and Briggs DEG. In review. Chemical signatures of soft tissues distinguish between vertebrates and  invertebrates from the Carboniferous Mazon Creek Lagerstätte of Illinois. Geobiology.
• Cotroneo S, Schiffbauer JD, McCoy VE, Wortmann UG, Darroch SAF, Peng Y, and Laflamme M. 2016. A new model of the formation of Pennsylvanian iron carbonate concretions hosting exceptional soft‐bodied fossils in Mazon Creek, Illinois. Geobiology. doi:10.1111/gbi.12197
• McCoy VE, Saupe EE, Lamsdell JC, Tarhan LG, McMahon S, Lidgard S, Mayer P, Whalen SD, Soriano C, Finney L, Vogt S, Clark EG, Anderson RP, Petermann H, Locatelli ER, and Briggs DEG. 2016. The Tully Monster is a vertebrate. Nature 532: 496-499.
• McCoy VE, Young RT, and Briggs DEG. 2015a. Sediment permeability and the preservation of soft-tissues in concretions: an experimental study. Palaios 30: 608-612.
• McCoy VE, Young RT, and Briggs DEG. 2015b. Factors controlling exceptional preservation within concretions. Palaios 30: 272-280.
• McCoy VE. 2014. Concretions as agents of soft tissue preservation: a review. Reading and writing of the fossil record: preservational pathways to exceptional fossilization. The Paleontological Society Papers 20:147-162.
• McCoy VE. 2013. Patterns In Palaeontology: Exceptional preservation of fossils in concretions. Palaeontology Online 3: Article 7, 1-14.
• Dolak D, and McCoy VE. 2012. The concretion conundrum: Current research at Mazon Creek. Mid-American Paleontological Society Digest 35:1-23

Thanks for the contribution, Ralph!

 

Human-size ammonites swam the Atlantic Ocean 80 million years ago #fossil #cephalopod #ammonite #paleotology

(Image credit: Getty / estt)

LiveScience has a story about some truly large ammonites.  About 80 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period, six foot ammonites lived in the Atlantic Ocean.  A new study published in the journal PLOS One looked at the evolutionary history of these massive cephalopods.  They looked at 154 specimens (!), including 100 newly found specimens from England and Mexico.

About 80 million years ago, human-size sea creatures with tentacle-like arms and coiled shells up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) wide glided through the Atlantic Ocean, a new study reveals. 

These creatures were the world's largest ammonites, a group of shelled cephalopods that went extinct roughly 66 million years ago. The largest ammonite fossil ever discovered belongs to the species Parapuzosia seppenradensis; the fossil, which was found in Germany in 1895, has a gargantuan shell measuring 5.7 feet (1.7 m) across. 

Although this famous fossil was uncovered more than a century ago, few ammonite fossils of similar size had been found until recently, which left big questions about how and when P. seppenradensis evolved to be such an impressive size. 

 

 

 

The Top Ten Dinosaur Discoveries of 2021 #dinosaur #fossil #paleontology #2021

The tyrannosaur Nanuqsaurus, which lived in the Arctic, with its young. New evidence suggests dinosaurs nested in the cold, dark region. James Havens

Smithsonian Magazine has a story about the top dinosaurs discoveries in 2021.  42 new species were described.  That's a good year!

There’s never been a better time to be a dinosaur fan. New species are being described at a fast-and-furious pace, with 42 species named just this year, and paleontologists have also been investigating and arguing about everything from patterns of dinosaur evolution to the ethics of fossil collecting. This year’s finds help set up the studies and debates that we’ll be sure to see in the years ahead, and these are some of the most important dinosaur-focused stories that have been unearthed in 2021.

• Armored Dinosaur Swung an Unusual Tail
• Fuzzy Dinosaur From Brazil Stirs Ethics Debate
• Tyrants Once Dominated Their Environments
• Predators Once Towered Over Smaller Tyrannosaurs
• Scientists Discover Baby Dinosaur Fossils in the Arctic
• Dinosaurs Hung Out With Their Peers
• The “Smallest Dinosaur” Is Really a Lizard
• Paleontologists May Have Found the Biggest Dinosaur
• Stubby-Armed Dinosaurs Ate Insects
• Scientists Get to the Bottom of Dinosaur Butts

 

Fossil Friday #89: Green Bay Cystoid #fossil #crinoid #paleontology #ordovician #wisconsin #greenbay

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #89.  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!

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A crinoid from Green Bay, Wisconsin is up for today's post.  Too bad there isn't a green and gold G on the side of it!  This absolutely stunning example of Pleuocystites squamosus comes from ESCONI member Dan Damrow.  P. squalmosus is a cystoid.  Cystoids are related to crinoids and blastoids.  They went extinct at the end of the Devonian.  Dan was the owner of the "Rib River Fossil" booth at ESCONI and Chicagoland shows for many years.  Thanks, Dan!  Here is his description of the fossil.

Here is just one of my favorite echinoderms in my collection. A museum grade Pleuocystites squamosus from the famous but now flooded, Duck Creek Quarry in Howard, Wi.  Howard is just outside of Green Bay.  The Duck Creek Quarry, in its hay day, was renowned for incredible echinoderms and trilobites of the  Middle Ordovician. While Pleurocycites is known from numerous localities, specimens from this quarry were incredible.

Throwback Thursday #91: Winter Collecting 1963 #fossil #paleontology #MazonCreek #TBT #history #ThrowbackThursday

This is Throwback Thursday #91.  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 sent them to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Thanks!

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The snow this week had me looking through the newsletters looking for a winter field trips.  Many of us have collected in extreme winter weather conditions.  I personally have been out in pretty cold weather, say low 20's in November with thunder snow.   

We already posted on a field trip to a Lemont quarry on November 19th, 1950 in Throwback Thursday #41.  They look pretty cold in their winter coats for the picture shown below.  The temperature might have been in the 30's from this historical link.  From the trip report, the weather didn't impact their success as one participant came away with 18 trilobites!

This one was pretty late in the year, but there had to be later ones.  In the January 1963 newsletter, there is mention of a trip to collect Mazon Creek ferns on private property on December 9th, 1962.  There isn't an announcement of the trip in the December 1962 newsletter.  All we have is the report by Olive Knight, who was Co-Editor of the ESCONI newsletter at the time (Her husband Howard Knight was Editor).  17 degrees is cold!  Have you been out later in the winter?  Was the weather colder?  Tell us!

On Sunday, December 9, 1962, in 17 temperature and snow flurries, 8 cars full of members of the Paleontology Group held a field trip to Braidwood for fern fossils. Special permission had been obtained to hunt on private grounds and this could not be passed up!?!? I'll admit. the assistant editor went under strong protest - but a shrimp, a worm and quite a few nice ferns convinced me I'm glad I went! Jim Konecny said Esconi should create a new medal for "explorer type members" who attended this field trip! They must be hardy souls for everyone seemed delighted they had made the effort no one froze (that I know of) and I'll just bet they'd do it again!!!

Olive and Howard Knight were very active in ESCONI for many years.

 

ESCONI Funds Paleontological Society Student Research Grants #paleontology #research #student

ESCONI is providing funds for Student Research Grants administered by the Paleontological Society. The club’s support will cover one grant for each of the next three years, 2022 through 2024. Any undergraduate or graduate student conducting research in paleontology can apply. For the ESCONI grants, priority will be given to projects involving the Paleozoic of the Midwest. More information can be found at https://www.paleosoc.org/paleontological-society-student-research-grants

Trilobite Tuesday #35: Ceraurinus icarus #fossil #trilobite #ordovician #paleontology #indiana

How about a Trilobite Tuesday post?  Here is a rare species of trilobite from Indiana, Ceraurinus icarus.  This specimen is from the Whitewater Formation in Union Co., Indiana.  The pictures were contributed by Dan Damrow.  Thanks, Dan!  Awesome trilobite!

 

Mazon Monday #92: Species Spotlight - Illilepas damrowi #fossil #paleontology #MazonMonday #MazonCreek #barnacle #illinois

This is Mazon Monday post #92.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com.

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Illilepas damrowi is a gooseneck barnacle from the Mazon Creek biota, found in Essex localities like Pit 11.  Barnacles are crustaceans thus they are related to crabs and lobsters.  They are fairly rare in the fossil record with the oldest known from the Middle Cambrian about 510 million years ago.  I. damrowi was described by Frederick Schram in 1975.  It is named for ESCONI member Dan Damrow, whom you might remember from his Rib River Fossil booth at ESCONI shows for many years.  Originally, it was placed under the genus Praelepas, but in 1986 Schram moved it to a new genus named Illilepas.

Schram, F.R. (1975) A Pennsylvanian lepadomorph barnacle from the Mazon Creek area, Illinois. Journal of Paleontology, 49(5), 928–930.
Schram, F.R. (1982) The fossil record and evolution of the Crustacea. In Biology of Crustacea. (Ed. L.G. Abele), 1, 93–147. Academic Press, New York.
Schram, F.R. (1986) Crustacea. Oxford University Press, New York. 606 pp.

I. damrowi appears in Jack Wittry's "The Mazon Creek Fossil Fauna".

Illilepas damrowi Schram, 1975

Barnacles are crustaceans, although they do not appear or behave like other crustaceans. Illilepas damrowi is a member of the Gooseneck Barnacles. In this group, I. damrowi probably started life as a free-swimming larva, then would change its form as it settled and metamorphosed. In the last stage of metamorphosis, it became stationary and a strong, flexible stalk containing a cement gland formed from the head. The animal then attached itself permanently to an object, perhaps a rock or a piece of driftwood. Some I damrowi specimens have been discovered attached to mollusks. (See Associations, page 169.) Modern forms are colonial filter-feeders more often found on exposed intertidal substrates as they depend, unlike most other types of barnacles, on water motion rather than the movement of their cirri for feeding.

Schram first described I. damrowi in 1975 under the genus Praelepas. It was later determined that this was not a good fit and a new genus, Illilepas, was erected.

There is a short paragraph about I. damrowi in the "Richardson's Guide to the Fossil Fauna of Mazon Creek".

Illilepas damrowi (Schram, 1975) Figures 12.42-12.44

Capitulum well developed, scutum large and subrectangular, tergum moderate in size and oval, together covering almost the entire capitulum, capitular margin marked by a row of fine spines and a large platelike spine between the scutum and tergum (originally thought to be a reduced tergum); peduncle well developed and without any armature.

This barnacle species was originally placed in the family Praelepadidae and related to Praelepas jaworskii of the Soviet Carboniferous. Subsequently, the form of the fossil was reevaluated and found to be closer to that seen in the living Iblidae, stalked barnacles of problematic affinities.

Specimens

These two specimens were contributed by Dan Damrow.  Thanks, Dan!  The first one is from Chowder Flats.

This specimen is from Pit 11.  Dan has both halves, only the positive side is shown.

Breathtaking Fossil of Baby Dinosaur Tucked in Its Egg Yields New Evolutionary Clues #dinosaur #fossil #embryo #egg #paleontology

Photo of the oviraptorosaur embryo inside its fossilized egg. (Xing et al., iScience, 2021)

Nature's Science Alert has a story about a stunning dinosaur fossil.  Found in China, a oviraptor egg has a baby dinosaur preserved in breathtaking detail. The egg dates to between 72 and 66 million years ago.  The fossil was described in a paper in the journal iScience.

A rare and exquisitely preserved dinosaur embryo tucked inside an egg like a baby bird has been unearthed in southern China, providing an "unprecedented glimpse" into dinosaur development.

With a posture that resembles modern bird embryos close to hatching, the fossilized embryo is a remarkable find which raises the possibility that evolutionary links between modern birds and extinct dinosaurs run far deeper than previously thought.

"This dinosaur embryo inside its egg is one of the most beautiful fossils I have ever seen," paleontologist and study author Steve Brusatte at the University of Edinburgh said in a statement.

"This little prenatal dinosaur looks just like a baby bird curled in its egg, which is yet more evidence that many features characteristic of today's birds first evolved in their dinosaur ancestors."

The embryo lying inside its fossilized egg dates between 72 and 66 million years old, and was identified as an oviraptorosaur, a group of feathered theropod dinosaurs which had distinct toothless, parrot-like beaks and sometimes elaborate crests as well.

Merry Christmas from ESCONI... Just in Time for Christmas: Knitwear Fit for a T. Rex! #fossil dinosaur #paleontology #london @NHM_London #happyholidays #merryxmas #merrychristmas

Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London

New York Times has a story about a T-rex with an ugly sweater... go ahead you tell him that!  The animatronic replica resides in the Natural History Museum in London.

Behold the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex — all swaddled in a cozy Christmas sweater.

The replica T. rex at the Natural History Museum in London is an enormous, ferocious-looking beast that was built to scale, standing about 60 percent the size of the 40-foot-long prehistoric creature.

The animatronic attraction, which features roaring sound effects, often startles visitors, but on Monday, the predatory edge was somewhat softened when visitors found the T. rex bedecked in a giant blue, red and green holiday sweater, replete with cheerful Christmas trees and snowflakes.

The turtleneck, created by a British company that has also dressed members of Parliament, fit snugly around the T. rex’s wide upper body and neck, then tapered into sleeves short enough to encircle the dinosaur’s wee arms.

“There is nothing more funny than a jumper fitted for a dinosaur that has the tiniest arms in the world,” said Carla Treasure, a buyer and product developer at the museum. “I think it makes it slightly less scary.”

Fossil Friday #88: Trigonocarpus seeds #fossil #FossilFriday #MazonCreek #seedfern #illinois #paleontology

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #88.  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!

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Back in Mazon Monday #67, we took a look at Trigonocarpus seeds, which are the seed part of an extinct order of plant called Medullosales.  The common name is seed fern.  The order includes Mazon Creek species like Alethopteris, Odontopteris, Laveiniopteris, Neuropteris, and Macroneuropteris.  Back in Fossil Friday #62, we highlighted an exquisite specimen from ESCONI member George Witaszek.  For this week, we have a couple of plates with multiple seed specimens from another ESCONI member.  Wow!  I bet that makes a nice display!

 

Throwback Thursday #90: The Night After a Field Trip #history #TBT #ThrowbackThursday #fieldtrip #poem

This is Throwback Thursday #90.  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 sent them to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Thanks!

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We have a real nice holiday themed post for today.  It's a poem called "The Night After a Field Trip" from the December 1970 newsletter.  Unfortunately, no details are available on the attribution... who were ESCOMO and Gemrock?  Was Gemrock a club newsletter?  If you know, please tell us at esconi.info@gmail.com.  We all hope you are enjoying the holiday season and resting up for a Rockin' 2022!

THE NIGHT AFTER A FIELD TRIP

Twas the night after a Field Trip and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring; there wasn't room for a mouse.
With geodes and nodules under table and chairs,
A wee little mouse can't squeeze in anywhere.

When out in the street there 'rose such a clatter
I jumped out of bed as made as a hatter,
Stumbled down stairs, two at a time,
Just as our clock tolled its 3 A.M. chime.

I opened the door and took a long look,
The sight that I saw there would make quite a book.
For parking in front with a roar and a squeak,
Was our Field Trip Leader, in a well-loaded jeep.

He paused just a moment to check his long list
And make doubly certain no one would, be missed.
There's agate, onyx, turquoise, and malachite,
Carnelian, crystal, sapphire, and rhodonite.

He named every stone I ever had heard,
And my heart was so happy it sang like a bird.
For rocks to a rockhound are really a must,
Right next to that stuff labeled, "In God We Trust."

It took quite a while to do this little chore,
But as soon as he'd finished, he came straight for our door.
And I can't understand, though I've honestly tried,
But before I could turn, he was right there inside.

He spoke not a word but went straight to his work
And I stood there and watched thought I felt like a "jerk",
For he knew, more than I, and from visits to faraway hills,
He was wise beyond reason, this jolly "Old Bill."

The gifts he had brought were trips for next year,
And the making of new friends from far and near.
The singing of old songs around campfires bright
And being with the gang every Rock Meeting Night.

He picked up his pack and prepared to depart
And I gave him my thanks from the depth of my heart.
For friendship we know is a wonderful gem,
And the principal key to Peace Among Men.

And A He sprang to his jeep, and stepped on the gas
And left mid the snowflakes, which sparkled like glass,
But I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight,
"Happy Hunting Rockhounds and to all a Good-Night!"

(Author Unknown From ESCOMO via Gemrock)

One of Geology’s Great Mysteries May Actually Be Many Smaller Mysteries #geology #grandcanyon #thegreatunconformity #Cambrian

The discrepancy pops up in the Grand Canyon, where ancient rock abuts, well, less ancient rock. TENJI / CC BY-SA 3.0

Atlas Obscura has a story about the The Great Unconformity.  In geology, an unconformity is a break in the sequence of time in a continuous rock record.  There is usually a large gap of missing rock layers at the contact point between a much older layer and a younger one.  It's caused by a period of erosion or a pause in sediment accumulation.  The Great Unconformity is a sequence of many missing rock layers in the early Cambrian Period about 540 million years ago.  It's cause has stumped geologists all over the world as the gaps is pretty much worldwide.  A new paper in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences proposes that this erosion didn't happen all at once.  There may have been many events... a whole bunch of small unconformities.

GEOLOGY FORMS THE CONTEXT FOR many other fields, including archaeology, paleontology, climatology, and more, but that doesn’t stop this bedrock science from throwing a curveball here and there. In some outcrops around the world there’s a gap, a hint of time gone missing, a huge swath of geological data that should be there but isn’t.

It’s called the “Great Unconformity,” and it has long vexed geologists from Nevada to Scotland. Geology is often the study of layers, set one on top of each other for billions of years and compressed into sequences that provide geologists insight into how the Earth has evolved through the eons. Under the best circumstances, that sequence is more or less uninterrupted, but there can be gaps—sometimes big ones, like the Great Unconformity, which can be seen all over, from the Rockies to southern Africa to northern China. This gap spans one of the murkier periods in Earth’s history, before the Cambrian explosion, around 540 million years ago, when the diversity of life on Earth went wild.

Erosion is one natural process that wears layers away from the stack of geological deposits, but how so much was wiped out across such a wide range of places in one go has remained unknown. Even the unconformity isn’t uniform, ranging in scale from over a billion years of missing time to a mere couple hundred million. In the Grand Canyon, the timeframe of the unconformity jumps multiple times along its length.

PBS Eons: When Pterosaurs Walked #fossil #paleontology #pterosaur #mesozoic

 

PBS Eons has a new episode.  This one is about pterosaurs and how they lived... when they were on the ground.

If you know one thing about pterosaurs, it’s that they’re flyers. And while pterosaurs may be well-known for their domination of the skies in the Mesozoic Era, they didn’t live their entire lives in the air. So how did we figure this out? And what were they like when they finally came down?

Mazon Monday #91: Species Spotlight - Macroneuropteris macrophylla #fossil #paleontology #fern #plant #seedfern #illinois #MazonCreek #MazonMonday

This is Mazon Monday post #91.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com.

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Today, we have a seed fern species called Macroneuopteris macrophylla.  It was named Neuropteris macrophylla in 1831 by Alexander Brongniart, a French chemist, mineralogist, geologist, paleontologist, and zoologist.  It was mistakenly renamed as Neuropteris clarksoni by Leo Lesquereux in 1879.  It seems that Lesquereux just missed the older name.  N. clarksoni was carried forward by both Adolf Noe and George Langford.  With the name fixed by Robert Cookall in 1959.  Epidermal research led by Christopher Cleal in 1990 reclassified Neuropteris species into four genera, Neuropteris, Macroneuropteris, Neurocallipteris, and Laveineopteris.

These seed ferns are often mistaken for Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri.  We looked at M. scheuchzeri back in Mazon Monday #39.  There are a few differences between the two species, some more obvious than others.  The hints listed below come from the ESCONI "Keys to Identify Pennsylvanian Fossil Plants of the Mazon Creek Area".  At that time, M. macrophylla was still referred to as N. clarksoni.

• M. macrophylla has no orbicular pinnules.
• M. macrophylla has more coarse venation with sharply defined ridges.
• The shape of M. macrophylla pinnules are nearly triangular.
• M. macrophylla has no surface hairs.

Neuropteris scheuchzeri

The frond is very large. The large primary pinnules are spatulate. The secondary pinnules vary, depending on their position on the frond. The most common is a large elongate pinnule with a constricted base, tapering to a more or less rounded pointed apex. Fine sharp midvein extends nearly to the apex. There may be hairs scattered upon the surface, appearing as scratches across the veins. Two ovate basal pinnules are occasionally present.

The lateral veins and veinlets are fine, arching to the margin, and close. The veins fork usu ally four times, sometimes three or five times. The veinlets number about 40 per centimeter, with a range of 38 to 44.

Neuropteris clarksoni

N. clarksoni is similar in size to N. scheuchzeri, however, the venation is more coarse with sharply defined ridges and valleys with a rasp like appearance. The pinnule is nearly triangular and there are no surface hairs.

M. macrophylla appears in "A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek" by Jack Wittry.

1831. Neuropteris macrophylla Brongniart: p. 235, pl. 65, fig. 1
1879-80. Neuropteris clarksoni Lesquereux: p. 94, pl. 9, figs. 1-6
1925. Neuropteris clarksoni Lesquereux; Noé: p. 14, pl. 20, fig. 2; pl. 21, fig. 1
1958. Neuropteris clarksoni Lesquereux; Langford: p. 197, figs. 340-342
1959. Neuropteris macrophylla Brongniart; Crookall: p. 176, pl. 38, fig. 4; pl. 39, fig. 1; pl. 40, figs. 1-3; pl. 42, figs. 1, 3
1979. Neuropteris clarksoni Lesquereux; Janssen: p. 149, fig. 138
1990. Macroneuropteris macrophylla Brongniart; Cleal: p. 488

DESCRIPTION: The rachis is thin and longitudinally striate. The pinnules are attached subopposite, oblique, and often partially cover the rachis with their bases. Their sizes and shapes are highly variable-some may be lanceolate-acute with a large auricle (see Fig. 2), while others are oblong-obtuse and cordate at the base (see Fig. 1) The terminal pinnule is rhombic in shape. The midvein enters the pinnule off-center toward the acroscopic sice it is strongly marked at the base, but gradually disappears toward the middle. The lateral veins are strong, arched, and fork generally four times, with 35 veins per centimeter at the margin.

REMARKS: Macroneuropteris macrophylla is common. This taxon is most easily confused with M. scheuchzeri. However, the latter's characteristics of a symmetrical pinnule base; coarse, scattered "hairs"; and small, orbicular pinnules at the base separate the two. The name Neuropteris clarksoni, often used in North America, was never accepted in Europe. It appears that Lesquereux simply missed the fact that Brongniart had described this form some 50 years earlier, thus making Lesquereux's Neuropteris clarksoni a junior synonym of N. macrophylla.

Specimens

From Langford.

From Wittry

From an ESCONI member

Mammoth and Horse DNA Left in Freezer Rewrite Ice Age Extinctions #fossil #dna #iceage #canada #mammoth

Frozen DNA evidence trapped in soil suggests that mammoth and wild horse populations petered out slowly, instead of vanishing quickly. Leonello Calvetti via Getty Images

Smithsonian Magazine has a story about research that shows that woolly mammoths and other Ice Age animals survived up to about 5,000 years ago instead of the accepted 13,000 years.  Frozen permafrost samples collected about 10 years ago were analyzed and they revealed DNA of wooly mammoths, wild horses, and steppe bison.  The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Most DNA samples are taken from materials like bone or hair, but soils also contain also genetic residue that animals leave behind as they move through an environment, according to Gizmodo’s Isaac Schultz. The soil samples sat in a freezer untested for years until Tyler Murchie, an archaeologist specializing in ancient DNA at McMaster University, decided to reinvestigate them.

“I found them in the freezers while looking for a new project during my PhD,” Murchie, lead author of the new paper, tells Gizmodo. “One of my responsibilities at the ancient DNA center is freezer maintenance, so I had a good idea of what cool stuff might be in there waiting for someone to study.”

The research team was eager to understand how and why large North American species like mammoths and bison survived for thousands of years before they vanished. During the Pleistocene-Holocene transition roughly 11,000 to 14,000 years ago, the climate went through rapid changes that led to the extinction of many Ice Age species like mastodons and saber-toothed cats. Based on previous research, scientists suspected two factors were driving extinctions: a loss of food due to a warming climate or overhunting by humans. It’s a question scientists have "been grappling with for some 270 years,” says Murchie to Gizmodo. In the new paper, Murchie's team presents a DNA record of the plant and animal community dating back 30,000 years.