Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

ESCONI Events for Summer 2025 #events #paleontology #geology #mineralogy #fieldtrip #MazonCreek #rockswap #wheaton

Sat, Aug 23rd

ESCONI Rock Swap - 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM - DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL Details

Numerous Fossils Reveal Jurassic Fish Killed in Same, Bizarre Way #fossils #paleontology #fishfossils #squid #belemnite

Multiple Tharsis specimens have been found with belemnites stuck in their mouths. (Ebert & Kölbl-Ebert, Sci. Rep., 2025)

ScienceAlert has an interesting piece about some Jurassic ray-finned fish that had a surprising common way to die.  A recent analysis of Tharsis fish preserved in the 152 million-year-old Solnhofen Plattenkalk (limestone) formation in Germany met their end with large belemnites in they stomachs.  

Tharsis fish were what are known as micro-carnivores; animals that eat very small animals such as larvae and zooplankton, in this case by using suction to gulp down their food. Their fossils are quite common.

Belemnites, which resembled squid with a long hooded body and multiple arms, lived in the open ocean, left far fewer fossils.

Interestingly, the belemnite fossils found in the Plattenkalk basins of Eichstätt and Solnhofen often consist of an internal shell overgrown with bivalves – suggesting that the belemnite was dead, kept buoyant in the water column by a gas-filled shell colonized by other animals, such as clam-like molluscs, feasting on the decaying soft tissue.

The paper "Jurassic fish choking on floating belmnites" was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Abstract: Tharsis, an extinct genus of ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii) in the Late Jurassic, has but tiny teeth and is considered a micro-carnivore/visual zooplanktivore. A recent review of collection material, however, uncovered several specimens of Tharsis from the Late Jurassic (ca. 152 Ma) Plattenkalk deposits of the Solnhofen Archipelago with belemnites wedged in mouth and gill apparatus. In all cases, the rostrum reexits through the gill apparatus, whereas the broad phragmocone of the belemnite is firmly lodged in the mouth opening. Apparently, these micro-carnivore fish were in the habit of sucking remnants of decaying soft tissue or overgrowth such as algae or bacterial growth from floating objects, but when a streamlined floating belemnite rostrum accidentally was sucked into the mouth, they were no longer able to get rid of these deadly objects.

Mazon Monday #278: Anthracomedusa turnbulli #fossils #paleontology #MazonMonday #MazonCreek #jellyfish #cniderian #pennsylvanian

This is Mazon Monday post #278.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

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Figure 6.2. Anthracomedusa turnbulli, From Richardson's Guide (1997); side view. Scale bar = 10 mm.

Lacking hard parts, jellyfish are rare in the fossil record. Mazon Creek has a few species of them.  One of the most common animal fossils found in Mazon Creek is Essexella asherae, which only recenly was reclassified as a sea anemone (see Fossil Friday #188).  Today, we are looking at one of the rare Mazon Creek jellies, Anthracomedusa turnbulli, which is a box jelly.  A. turnbulli was described by Ralph Johnson and Eugene Richardson, Jr. in 1968 in the paper "Pennsylvanian Invertebrates of the Mazon Creek Area, Illinois: The Essex Fauna and Medusae", which appeared in Fieldiana.

The namesake for Anthracomedusa turnbulli, is James Turnbull.  Turnbull was one of Eugene Richardson's assistance in the field during the 1960s.  He found and donated what became the holotype and a couple of the paratypes in Pit 11 in 1965.  Here's how Richardson described Jim's finds in "Jellyfish in them thar hills", which appeared in the October 1968 edition of the Field Museum Bulletin (see Mazon Monday #158).

A few years ago, one of the collectors cooperating with the Museum, Jim Turnbull of Libertyville and the U. S. Marines, dropped in to see us with a perfectly fine jellyfish in one of the familiar ironstone concretions. Recognizing its significance, Jim kindly gave it to the Museum for permanent deposit. We jokingly ordered some more. He returned to the strip mines, to the hill where he had found that one, and the following week was back with two more, which he also deposited with us.

Jim's jellyfish are large and splashy specimens, four or five inches across the bell, with groups of tentacles almost that long hanging from four corners. Faint dark lines crossing the bell correspond to certain structures known as septa that similarly divide the bell of some modern jellyfish into four areas. When Professor Ralph Johnson saw the specimens, he recognized them as being very clearly members of a living group, the Order Carybdeida, but a species new to science.

Description

Holotype. FMNH no. PE 10500, one-half of a large concretion. collected in 1965 by James Turnbull from Pit 11 of the Peabody Coal Co., Essex, Illinois (fig. 57).

Paratypes. FMNH nos. PE 10501 (fig. 58), collected by James Turnbull, and PE 10951 both from Pit 11 of the Peabody Coal Co. Essex, Illinois.

Remarks. More than 20 well-preserved specimens have been ex-amined. The bell width varies from 28 to 100 mm. and the maximum tentacle length is 100 mm. Except for the general outline, there is little detail shown by the fossils. The holotype exhibits two faint lines running to each bell corner that probably represent septa. The cuboidal form and the cluster of tentacles borne at bell corners place Anthracomedusa in the order Carybdeida (Cubomedusae).

According to Hyman (1940) the Carybdeida are the most primi-tive of the Recent schyphozoans. Modern carybdeids are small and characteristically occur in warm, shallow waters. Anthracomedusa is the oldest known member of the order and may be the oldest known member of the subclass Scyphomedusae. Three imperfectly known genera from the lower Cambrian have been tentatively re-ferred to this subclass (Harrington and Moore, 1965).

The trivial name is proposed in honor of Mr. James Turnbull who collected the holotype and one of the paratypes and donated them to the Museum.

From Jack Wittry's "The Mazon Creek Fossil Fauna".

Anthracomedusa turnbulli Johnson and Richardson, 1968

Anthracomedusa turnbulli shares the same nickname as its present-day descendants, the Sea Wasps, suggesting the possible danger swimmers are in when encountering members of this group. Modern sea wasps are known for the extremely potent venom pro-duced by some species and are among the most venomous creatures in the world. Stings are extremely painful and sometimes fatal to humans.

A. turnbulli has a cube-like bell with four flattened sides, much like its extant class members, the Box Jellies. Each surface corner has one thick, short pedalium from which the smaller pedalia give rise to 24-30 tentacles. Larger animals may have up to 120 ten-tacles. In a good specimen, septa can be seen leading to four sub-umbrellar funnels which end in the coelenteron, or stomach.

Specimens tend to be very flat. Often the corner tentacles fold in on themselves, or the concretion reveals only part of the tentacle bundles. Of the sea jellies described in this section, A. turnbulli was the least frequent Essex animal in a sample of 2,500 animal concretions, with only five specimens found.

Specimens

Holotype - FMNH PE 10500 - Collected by James Turnbull

Paratype - FMNH PE 10501 - Collected by James Turnbull

FMNH 32364 - Collected by Jerry Herdina

Francis Tully specimen from the original paper "Pennsylvanian Invertebrates of the Mazon Creek Area, Illinois: The Essex Fauna and Medusae"

From ESCONI member Ben in Fossil Friday #270

'We're bringing back avian dinosaurs': De-extinction company claims it will resurrect the giant moa in next 10 years #fossils #paleontology #biology #extinction #giantmoa #newzealand #deextinction

LiveScience has an interesting story about the biotech company Colossal Biosciences.  The company is working to :"bring back" the giant moa.  Dinornis robustus lived on the south island of New Zealand up until about 600 years ago.  There were about nine separate species of moa all of which went extinct due to hunting pressure from modern humans.

Colossal announced on Tuesday (July 8) that its scientists and local Indigenous partners will "bring back" the South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus) through genetic engineering within the next 10 years. D. robustus stood up to 12 feet (3.6 meters) tall and was the largest of nine known species of moa, all of which are thought to have gone extinct due to hunting by humans.

"We're bringing back avian dinosaurs," the company said in a post on Instagram.

Colossal previously claimed to have brought back the dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus), an ice age predator that went extinct more than 10,000 years ago — but the reveal in April drew criticism from many experts, who said the animals were merely gray wolves with a few, cherry-picked dire wolf traits. Colossal also has plans to "resurrect" the woolly mammoth, the dodo and the thylacine (a wolf-like creature also known as the Tasmanian tiger), but these projects are similarly shrouded in controversy.

"We have numerous taxa going extinct now so it is unacceptable that this is seen as okay just because it may be possible to regenerate an animal in the future," Trevor Worthy, a vertebrate paleontologist and associate professor at Flinders University in Australia who is not associated with Colossal, told Live Science in an email.

Start Your Rockin' Collection - Saturday July 12 - at the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art #art #crystals #geodes @lizzadromuseum #lapidary

Start Your Rockin' Collection - Saturday July 12 - at the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art

Did you know that ordinary looking rocks can hide dazzling crystal worlds inside? Geodes are nature’s hidden treasures – spherical, hollow wonders lined with sparkling crystals! Join us as we explore the fascinating theories behind how geodes form and discover where these natural marvels are found around the world. After the presentation, you’ll get to crack open your very own geode and uncover the mystery within! Bring your own rock hammer and an old sock to collect the pieces. Each participant receives two crack-open geodes.

Lecture & Activity – 2:00 p.m. – 75-minutes – Ages 7 and up

Fee: $10 per Person – Museum Members FREE

Reservations Required – Register at here

Fossil Friday #273: Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri from Indiana #fossils #paleontology #FossilFriday #MazonCreek #seedfern #pennsylvanian #paleobotany #indiana

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #273.  Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website.  We will post any fossil pictures you send in to [email protected].  Please include a short description or story.  Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world!

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Today, we have a stunning 3D Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri.  This fossil was collected near Terre Haute, Indiana in the spoils of the Chieftain #20 strip mine. Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri is a seed fern (Pteridospermatophyta), which is a group of plants that went extinct during the late Cretaceous Period.  They first show up in the fossil record during the late Devonian.  Specimens are large and tongue shaped.  The namesake for M. scheuchzeri is Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, a botanist in the 1700's.   For more information, see Mazon Monday #39.

Throwback Thursday #273: RIP Floyd Rogers #history #TBT #ThrowbackThursday #flintknapping #southafrica

This is Throwback Thursday #273. 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 [email protected]. Thanks! email:[email protected].

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Floyd in March 2025

Will a heavy heart, we bring news of the passing of Floyd Rogers in South Africa.  Betsy and Floyd Rogers were very active in ESCONI from 1978 until the early 2000s. Betsy passed away in 2021.  Floyd served as president of ESCONI in 1991 and 1992.  They both held board positions during the 1980s and 1990s and ESCONI Show Chair in 2007 and 2008. 

Floyd and Betsy Rogers a few years ago

From his daughter Rebecca on his Facebook profile.  Rebecca is a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cape Town and one of the foremost biological anthropologists in the world.  She was an ESCONI junior many years ago.

Floyd M Rogers
02 Feb 1943 - 18 April 2025

My dad could come across as a bit stoic and even gruff at times, but he was a kind and gentle soul... dog whisperer extraordinaire; lover of gardening, green flowers, single varietal reds, and singing in his deep bass voice; giver of his time and tech skills to his church, community and those less privileged; and exceptionally skilled at handicraft of many kinds, most recently his beadwork. He has been a central pillar in my life, one of our closest friends, and the very best Oupa. The last few years, after mom passed, with just the four of us holding each other up, has been a gift. Our hearts are shattered  

Floyd donated fossils, minerals, and related materials (archaeological arifacts) to ESCONI back in 2021.  The most significant items were a Tully Monster and a fossil insect wing from Mazon Creek.  ESCONI donated the fossil to the PRI (Prairie Research Institute at the U of I) in his name.  Jarmila Peck of Carleton University thought it represented an undescribed species.  We'll do a more complete post about the fossil soon.

 

Scientists reconstruct 540 million years of sea level change in detail #geology #earthscience #sealevel #ocean #oceanlevel

Paleogeographic reconstructions (Scotese et al., 2024; Scotese and Wright, 2018). A) Last Glacial Maximum (∼20 ka), an example of maximum glacial extent, low global mean sea level and more exposed continental shelf. As a result of changing continental ice-cover, glacio-eustasy results in changes in eustasy and flooding of continents. B) Present-Day, as example of an Interglacial with relatively high sea level. Long-term sea level reconstructions do not consider short-term changes in sea level due to orbital-scale variations. Credit: Earth and Planetary Science Letters (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2025.119526

Phys.org has a story about sea level over the last 540 million years.  Sea level change is a hot topic in Earth Science.  As the Earth warms, the level will increase due to melted ice and the expansion of water.  A new paper "Phanerozoic orbital-scale glacio-eustatic variability" in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, details the change over the last 540 million years.  Looking deep into the history of the Earth, researchers can better understand the changes in the future.

"Taking these rapid sea level variations into account is important for understanding the structure of the subsurface, and the applications to green energy resources," says Dr. Douwe van der Meer, guest researcher at Utrecht University and lead author of the study.

How high or low sea level is depends largely on two things: plate tectonics determine how deep the bathtub is between continents, and the amount of land ice determines how much water is in that bathtub.

"In time steps of about a million years, you can derive an average sea level for as far back as there are fossils, about 540 million years," says Dr. Van der Meer. "That varied by as much as 200 meters. We suspected that sea level could go up and down enormously in much shorter periods as well, but there is not enough data to make those shorter time steps."

Ferns: Lessons in Survival From the Earth’s Most Adaptable Plants #book #paleobotany #ferns #paleontology #evolution

Here's a new paleobotany book "Ferns: Lessons in Survival From the Earth’s Most Adaptable Plants" that some of you might find interesting.  Available at most online book stores including Amazon and Kobo.

Welcome to the extraordinary world of ferns – plants that have survived since prehistoric times!

Ferns are the most remarkable of plants, both complex and beautiful. Among Earth's most ancient plants, their story reveals much about our planet's history. Ferns embarks on an exhilarating 400-million-year journey through the world of these astounding plants. It explores how ferns first evolved, how they continuously adapted to their environment and survived every mass extinction, how they enrich human life but can also be fatal, and what their evolutionary history can tell us about our own planet.

Written by scientists with a passion for communicating with the widest audiences and illustrated with jewel-like details by an award-winning botanical artist, Ferns has much to say about our planet's botanical past, present, and future. This beautiful coffee table book is the perfect gift for fern enthusiasts and gardeners alike.

Mazon Monday #277: Sphenophyllales from the Mazon Creek flora (Upper Moscovian: Illinois, USA) #fossils #paleontology #MazonMonday #MazonCreek #paleobotany #sphenophyllales #horsetails

This is Mazon Monday post #277.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

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Figure 1. Hexaphyllostrobus negauneeana holotype. FM PP54628. A, B, Part and counterpart of cone showing overall dimensions and morphology. C, Distal region of the cone showing two orthostichies of sporophylls in surface view, and one orthostichy in lateral view. D, Central region of the cone showing details of the undulatory distal margin of the sporophyll lamina (arrow). Figure modified from Herrera et al. 2023. Scale: A, B = 1 cm; C, D = 5 mm.

Here's a new paper "Sphenophyllales from the Mazon Creek flora (Upper Moscovian: Illinois, USA)" by some of our friends at the Field Museum, Yale, and the Smithsonian. It was published in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society in June 2025. The paper describes a new species of Sphenophyllales cone, Hexaphyllostrobus negauneeana.  Sphenophyllales are related to modern day horsetails and were part of the ground cover during the late Carboniferous.

Abstract: Sphenophyllales is an extinct clade related to horsetails whose members were important ground-cover and understory components of the vast tropical Carboniferous peat swamps of Euramerica. These plants exhibited extreme anisophylly and heterophylly, complicating the development of whole-plant concepts within the group. Here, we describe a new species of a small sphenophyll cone—Hexaphyllostrobus negauneeana sp. nov.—using computed tomography of three remarkably well-preserved cones from the Pennsylvanian Mazon Creek flora of Illinois, USA. We also briefly review the broader diversity of sphenophylls present in the Mazon Creek flora as a step towards developing new whole-plant concepts within Sphenophyllales.

Authors: Michael P. D’Antonio, Peter R. Crane, Carol L. Hotton, Jack Wittry, and Fabiany Herrera

Figure 8. Paleoartistic reconstruction of Hexaphyllostrobus species from Mazon Creek showing the entire cone (left) and details of the sporophylls at one node (right). Red dashed lines indicate where the sporophyll was digitally removed to show attachment of the pedicel to the axis. Bottom right: differences between Hexaphyllostrobus kostorhysii (left) and H. negauneeana (right) include sporangiophore attachment, number of sporangia per sporangiophore, sporangia size, and morphology of the sporophyll distal lamina. Art by Sofia Herrera.

 

Scientists Discover 'Goblin Prince' That Roamed With Dinosaurs #fossils #paleontology #gilamonster #utah

An artist's impression of Bolg amondol. (Cullen Townsend)

Science Alert has a story about the redicovery of a key fossil in the back of a museum drawer.  Discovered around 2006, this new species, Bolg amondol, is a fossil gila monster from Utah.  It dates to the late Cretaceous.  The name translates to "mound-headed goblin prince" in J.R.R. Tolkien's Elvish language. Hank Woolley, paleontologist at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County's Dinosaur Institute, is the lead author of the paper "New monstersaur specimens from the Kaiparowits Formation of Utah reveal unexpected richness of large-bodied lizards in Late Cretaceous North America" in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

A newly discovered monstersaur roamed beneath the feet of giant dinosaurs. Paleontologists have described the new species as a giant Gila monster-like reptile, and bestowed on it a name fit for fantasy royalty.

The new species has been named Bolg amondol, which basically translates to "mound-headed goblin prince" in J.R.R. Tolkien's Elvish language.

"Bolg is a great sounding name. It's a goblin prince from The Hobbit, and I think of these lizards as goblin-like, especially looking at their skulls," says Hank Woolley, paleontologist at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County's Dinosaur Institute.

Although Bolg's bones have been rattling around in museum drawers since 2006, the creature was only recently examined and described. The remains are a very fragmentary skeleton, but this was enough information for Woolley and team to identify it as a new species and place it in its evolutionary lineage.

PBS Eons: Why Paleontologists Can’t Stop Fighting About Spinosaurus #fossils #paleontology #dinosaurs #spinosaurus #cretaceous

PBS Eons has a new episode on Youtube.  This one is about the controversy surrounding how Spinosaurus lived.... how much time did they spent in the water?

What does it mean to be a “semi-aquatic” dinosaur? Was it wading in the shallows, or could it have been a skilled swimmer? Each scenario paints a very different picture of Spinosaurus, and the discovery of new fossils has paleontologists rethinking just how weird and watery this dinosaur was all over again.

Fossil Friday #272: Crenulopteris acadica #fossils #paleontology #FossilFriday #MazonCreek #pennsylvanian #fern

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #272.  Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website.  We will post any fossil pictures you send in to [email protected].  Please include a short description or story.  Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world!

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Crenulopteris acadica is one of the most common flora fossils found in the Mazon Creek biota.  Some of the localities are absolutely full of it.  C. acadica fossils can range in size from a few inches to over a foot.  It is a true fern belonging to the group Filicopsida, which is a subdivision of Pteridophyta.  Pteridophyta includes all extant and extinct ferns and first appears in the fossil record during the Devonian Period.  To learn more, see Mazon Monday #115.

This particular specimen of C. acadica measures just shy of 9 inches.

Throwback Thursday #272: Looking Back At ESCONI For July 2025 #history #TBT #ThrowbackThursday #vacation #tourmaline

This is Throwback Thursday #272. 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 [email protected]. Thanks! email:[email protected].

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From the July/August 1955 edition of the newsletter

July and August are generally light months for ESCONI news.  Get out there and collect for Brag Night in September!

Tourmaline from the Himalaya Mine in Mesa Grande, California

25 Years Ago - July 2000

• Karen's Komments had a piece on the new feathered dinosaurs from China.
• There was a report about the Theropod Symposium at the Field Museum in May 2000.
• J. F. Daly wrote "Cleaning and Preservation of Water-Soluble and Humidity-Sensitive Minerals for the newletter.

50 Years Ago - July 1975

• The College of DuPage was proposed as the meeting place for the All Illinois Rock Swap in August 1975.  ESCONI was the host for the event.  This year - 50 years later - we are host our own Rock Swap on Auguist 23rd, 2025.
• The newsletter had an article "About Quartz" from American Horologist and Jeweler magazine.
• "Florida's Petrified Black Mangroves" from Chips and Facets was published in the newsletter.
• All study group meetings were moved to Prospect Federal Savings & Loan in Yorktown.

70 Years Ago - July 1955

• Miss Helen Turner, an Oak Park Science Instructor, donated her mineral collection to ESCONI.
• There was a field trip to a Joliet Quarry and the Chicago Gravel Company's stip mine on July 17th.  It must have been hot... unfortunately, no collecting was allowed.
• Hazen Bonow wrote an article about collecting garnets in Idaho.
• Dorothy Schnizlein described how Tomb Stones are made in Montello, Wisconsin.
• Rhonda Brock from the "Rockhounds Call" described the Himalaya Mine in Mesa Grande, California.  Beautiful tourmaline is found there!

 

Wired: Paleontologist Answers Fossil Questions #fossils #paleontology #dinosaurs #wired

Wired magazine has an interesting new video up on Youtube.  It's question and answer with Paleontologist and Geologist Dr. Ken Lacovara.

Paleontologist and Geologist Dr. Ken Lacovara joins WIRED to answer the internet's burning questions about fossils. Can we extract dinosaur DNA from fossils? How is crude oil made from fossils? Where are the most common places to find fossils worldwide? How can you give yourself the best chance to become a fossil after you die? Did we ever find the crater from the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs? Answers to these questions and plenty more await on Fossil Support.

Watch Ken's previous Tech Support:    • Paleontologist Answers Extinction Question...  

PBS Terra: When Dinosaurs Conquered the Arctic #fossils #paleontology #alaska #dinosaurs #migration #westerninteriorseaway

PBS Terra has a new episode on Youtube.  This one is about the epic migrations of herds of Pachyrhinosaurus and Edmontosaurus to Alaska during Cretaceous summers.

Very few dinosaurs made it as far North as the Arctic Circle. But two of those - Pachyrhinosaurus and Edmontosaurus - undertook an epic migration every year to reach the fertile grounds of the northern latitudes in summertime. This was far from an easy task. Deadly predators lurked nearby looking to pick off weaker members of this giant herd. But thanks to one incredible fossil in particular, with its soft tissue still intact, evidence is starting to suggest that these two dinosaurs were not just coincidental travel companions. In fact, they may well have used their complementary strengths to fend off predators - and possibly even communicated with each other in order to do so.

Walking with Dinosaurs: Unearthed is produced by BBC for PBS Digital Studios. ©BBC 2025. All Rights Reserved.

Mazon Monday #276: Video for Cal So's "Taxonomic diversity and development of Late Carboniferous amphibamiforms from the Mazon Creek Lagerstätte" #fossils #paleontology #MazonMonday #MazonCreek #carboniferous #tetrapod #amphibamus

This is Mazon Monday post #276.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

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Cal So, Postdoctoral Scientist in the Research & Collections Department of The Field Museum, Chicago, gave us an informative presentation in June 2025.  The title of his presentation was "Taxonomic diversity and development of Late Carboniferous amphibamiforms from the Mazon Creek Lagerstätte".  He spoke about the history and recent developments in the science of Mazon Creek amphibamiform temnospondyls.  There's still much more to learn!

Summary: Late Paleozoic amphibamiform temnospondyls have a critical role in the research and discourse on the origin of lissamphibians. Previous research has started to form a consensus that amphibamiforms acquired lissamphibian traits in a stepwise evolutionary pattern. However, Cal's recent research found that the internal relationships of amphibamiforms may not be as robust as previously thought, weakening support for a linear acquisition of a derived lissamphibian body plan and subsequently destabilizing interpretations on the evolutionary origins of lissamphibians. The exceptional preservational setting in the Francis Creek Shale of the Mazon Creek Lagerstätte (~309 Ma) offers a unique window into the morphology of Late Paleozoic amphibamiforms. Cal is revisiting the morphology of Amphibamus gran diceps using new fossils, including larval forms, from the Francis Creek Shale to improve the understanding of stem-lissamphibian condition. Cal is also describing and analyzing the development and ontogeny of Amphibamus grandiceps. Combined, these studies will shed light on the interplay between the evolution of amphibamiform temnospondyls in the Late Paleozoic Era and the evolutionary and developmental origins of modern lissamphibian anatomy, development, ontogeny, and physiology.

 

A T. rex with feathers? Scientists say dinosaurs were likely different from what most of us picture #fossils #paleontology #dinosaurs #trex @SUEtheTrex

Jack Tseng is an associate professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley. He teaches several courses related to paleontology, including Life During the Age of Dinosaurs. Below him is a replica of one of the most complete T. rex skeletons ever reconstructed, housed in the Valley Life Sciences Building on campus.  Stanley Luo/UC Berkeley

A story in the UC Berkeley News details how dinosaurs were probably much different than we have imagined.  50 years ago, scientists had a much differernt view of dinosaurs as slow, dumb animals.  Then, came John Ostrom, Bob Bakker with their insights comparing dinosaurs to modern animals. Those viewpoints led to the Jurassic Park view of the dinosaur world.  A Berkely Voices podcast was the basis of this story.  You can find it here.

For a long time, paleontologists thought that the famous, long-extinct apex predator, the Tyrannosaurus rex, may have chased its prey at high speeds. Children’s books and movies often showed the dinosaur sprinting at a terrifying pace; you might remember scenes from the 1993 film Jurassic Park in which a massive T. rex chases characters who are escaping in a Jeep that they’re driving as fast as they can.

But in the past few decades, paleontologists have found that this wasn’t exactly accurate — and it’s one of a number of ideas we’ve long held about these ancient creatures that are being reshaped by modern science. 

“After really sort of ground truthing, figuring out how much bone and tissue needs to be on the animal to reach a particular speed with enough power, people realized Tyrannosaurus probably didn’t run more than 20, 25 miles per hour,” says Jack Tseng, a UC Berkeley vertebrate paleontologist and functional morphologist. 

 

Natural History Museum: New dinosaur species on display in our Earth Hall #fossils #paleontology #dinosaurs #jurassic #london

The Natural History Museum in London has a new video on Youtube about their new dinosaur, Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae.

Meet Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, our new dinosaur!

Now on display in our Earth Hall, Enigmacursor is a species new to science and would have roamed North America in the Late Jurassic 145-150 million years ago.

Measuring only 1.5 metres in length, this small dinosaur would have run at the feet of giants like Diplodocus (such as Dippy) and Stegosaurus (like Sophie, who is Enigmacursor’s neighbour in the Museum’s Earth Hall).

We head to the behind-the-scenes Fossil Reptiles collection to meet Professor Susannah Maidment, a dinosaur researcher at the Museum. Susannah shares what Enigmacursor would have looked like in life, how scientists understood it to be a new species and what’s so special about this incredible new discovery.

Fossil Friday #271: Laveiniopteris rarinervis #fossils #paleontology #FossilFriday #MazonCreek #seedfern #pennsylvanian #carboniferous

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #271.  Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website.  We will post any fossil pictures you send in to [email protected].  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 we have a breathtaking specimen of Laveiniopteris rarinervis from Mazon Creek.  L. rarinervis was described by Charles James Fox Bunbury in 1847.  Bunbury (1809-1886) was the leading paleobotanist in Britain in the 1850's.  He published a series of papers on the fossil floras of the Carboniferous, Jurassic, and Neogene.  Remember, many of the flora species found in Mazon Creek can also be found in deposits in Europe.  There is a book on Bunbury's life and contributions to paleobotany.  See more in Mazon Monday #81.

This beautiful fossil comes from Jeremy Zimmerman.  Thanks for sharing, Jeremy!

Throwback Thursday #271: Rare fossil find for Joliet man #history #TBT #ThrowbackThursday #joliet #echinoid #jurassic

This is Throwback Thursday #271. 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 [email protected]. Thanks! email:[email protected].

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I came across this story a few days ago in a Facebook post by Gus Kramer.  Back in 1968, his brother David J. Kramer, who was a graduate degree student in Geology at Northern Illinois University, found a rare Jurassic echinod (sea urchin) in the Sundance Formation near Cody, Wyoming.  He sent the fossil specimen into the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.  It took a few years, but he eventually received a response—in a letter, no less—from the Smithsonian acknowledging the find and thanking him for the submission. It was a rare Jurassic echinod (sea urchin), but it had not yet been formally described.  That might still be the case... Does anyone out there know what species of sea urchin this might be?

This invertebrate animal lived some 150 million years ago as the Sundance Formation dates to the Middle to Upper Jurassic.  During that time, Wyoming and surrounding states were under the Western Interior Seaway.  This was a time before the rise of the Rocky Mountains.  The Sundance Formation is known for its diverse marine fauna, including marine reptiles, cephalopods (like belemnites), bivalves (like oysters), and various echinoderms, including echinoids (sea urchins). 

David Kramer earned a Masters Degree in Geology from Northern Illinois University in 1970.

Here's the Herald News article from April 11, 1971.

A letter from the Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum in Washington, D. C., has acknowledged a fossil found by David J. Kramer of 821 N. Center St. as "a very rare Jurassic echinoid."

Kramer found the fossil at the Sundance Formation near Cody, Wyo. on a field trip with North ern Illinois University in 1968. He submitted it for identification soon after, but due to the institution's backlog of samples it took three years to accurately identify the fossil.

"Echinoid" classifies the fossil as a sea urchin and Jurassic refers to a period from 135 to 190 million years ago. During that time parts of Wyoming were a large shallow sea and the echinoid lived and died there along with small squid, primitive shellfish and other sea life, the report states.

Over the centuries the sea floor became covered with more sediment, was compressed into rock and finally uplifted. Geologists call this layer the Sundance formation.

The fossils of squid and shellfish are plentiful throughout the formation, but echinoid fossils are very rare. The letter from the institution states there are only three or four specimens of this kind in existence.

This particular fossil has not been given a species name yet because not enough specimens have been found to make a thorough study and classification, it was explained.

Kramer, the son of Mr. and Mrs. August Kramer, received a master's degree in geology in 1970 from Northern Illinois University.

Thanks for allowing us to post this, Gus!

 

Reptiles Alive! exhibit opens at Field Museum #reptiles @fieldmuseum #amphibians #crocodiles

A Field Museum staffer holds Thanos, a 1-year-old American alligator. Selena Kuznikov/Sun-Times

The Field Museum has a new exhibit... Reptiles Alive!

Explore the fascinating world of reptiles in this one-of-a-kind family-friendly exhibition! Combining original Field Museum science with live animals and engaging interactives, Reptiles Alive! offers an immersive experience into the lives of snakes, lizards, crocodiles, and more. Discover their habitats, adaptations, and the groundbreaking research of Dr. Sara Ruane. From June 20, 2025—April 5, 2026!

Chicago Sun-Times article

The Reptiles Alive! exhibit opened Friday and runs through April 2026. The exhibit aims to enhance the public’s appreciation for reptiles. Selena Kuznikov/Sun-Times

When he was a child, Robert Ruch would visit the Field Museum every weekend with his father and sister.

Ruch, now 68, brings his granddaughter to a camp program at the museum. Friday, the last day of the camp, was the opening day of the museum’s Reptiles Alive! exhibit.

“When we signed up for it, we didn’t even know that this exhibit was going to be open,” said Ruch, who lives in Berwyn. “It’s like an extra bonus.”

Ruch said he dropped his granddaughter, who’s in seventh grade, off at the museum’s camp Friday morning and explored the exhibit. His granddaughter wants to become a herpetologist, an expert in reptiles and amphibians.

University of Arizona study confirms New Mexico fossils may be earliest evidence of humans in Americas #fossils #paleontology #footprints #humanhistory #northamerica #newmexico #anthropology

A 2021 study of these fossilized footprints at White Sands National Park in New Mexico showed that humans were living in the Americas roughly 10,000 years earlier than previously thought. New research from the University of Arizona supports those 2021 findings.  Courtesy of David Bustos, White Sands National Park

Tuscon.com has a story about the oldest evidence of human occupation in North America.  A 2021 study from the University of Arizona revealed data that dated fossilized footprints from White Sands National Park to 23,000 year ago. This was controversial as the previously excepted oldest human evidence was 17,000 before present.  Most of the criticism was associated with the use of grass seeds and pollen excavated at the site to determine the approximate age of the footprints.  Now, a new study analyzed mud deposits surrounding the original dig site to arrive at a similar age.  The research was published recently in the journal Science Advances.

“We started doing the radiocarbon dating on the material, and it just matched right up with the tracks,” said Holliday, a professor emeritus in the university’s School of Anthropology who has studied the “peopling of the Americas” for nearly 50 years. “We now have three different sources of carbon tested in three different labs, and all the dates match up nicely.”

...

The human tracks at White Sands were left along the bed of a tributary to what scientists call paleolake Otero, a Pleistocene body of water that once filled the valley where the park’s famous dunes now stand.

Holliday said the desiccated wetland also contains the fossilized footprints of several now-extinct large mammals common in North America until the end of the last ice age. There are “tracks all over the place” left by mammoths, dire wolves and giant ground sloths, he said.

Mazon Monday #275: Rhacophyllum molle #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #carboniferous #pennsylvanian #paleobotany

This is Mazon Monday post #275.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

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After Lesquereux (1870)

Rhacophyllum molle is a wispy plant, underfined plant species described by Leo Lesquereux in 1870 as Hymenophyllites mollis. Later, he reclassified it as Rhacophyllum molle. He thought it was a type of aquatic plant.  He reported to have found them in irregular masses growing on decaying woody matter. All known specimens are from the Mazon Creek area.

Leo Lesquereux's description, posted on George's Basement.

RHACOPHYLLUM MOLLE, Lesqx.

Hymenophyllites mollis, Lesqx., Geol. Rept. of Ill., VI, p. 418, Pl. XVIII, f. 2-6.

Filaments thin, flat, linear, emerging from a common support, parallel at the base, joined in their length by compression, separated on the borders of the tufts in linear obtuse filaments, nerveless.

These plants, found in numerous specimens, cannot be clearly defined. They seem to grow upon fragments of decayed woody matter, and to cover them by numerous closely apressed filaments, which, by compression, form an irregular mass where their borders only are here and there distinct. In the beginning, these filaments are short, two to ten millimeters, one millimeter broad or a little more, linear, obtuse, close and parallel; later, or in a state which seems to be their full growth, they are four to seven centimeters long, more or less flexuous, sometimes disconnected in laciniae, two millimeters broad, irregularly lined either in the middle or along the borders, while at the apex, when distinctly separated, they have the same width and form as the primary one. These medial laciniae; which of ten join again upwards, are not, therefore, separate leaves, but fragments of two or more filaments pressed and glued together.

Habitat—Nodules of Mazon Creek, not rare.

From Jack Wittry's "A Complete Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek", it is shown on page 250.

Rhacophyllum molle Lesquereux, 1870

1870. Hymenophyllites mollis Lesquereux: p. 418, pl. 18, figs. 2-6
1880. Rhacophyllum molle Lesquereux: p. 326
1958. Rhacophyllum; Langford: p. 294, figs. 550, 551

DESCRIPTION: The lamina consists of thin, flat, linear filaments which are joined by compression and emerge from a common support. They are parallel at the base and united until close to the distal margin where they sep-arate into thin, obtuse filaments.

REMARKS: Rhacophyllum molle is very rare. It is reported to be found as irregular masses growing on decaying woody matter. All known specimens are from the Mazon Creek area.

Specimens

Field Museum PP 27639

Video for ESCONI June 2025 General Meeting - "New discoveries in Inner Space Cavern reveal the animals of Ice Age Texas" #fossils #paleontology #iceage #texas

The June 2025 General Meeting was held on June 13th, 2025 via Zoom.  Our speaker was John A. Moretti of the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin.  His topic was "New discoveries in Inner Space Cavern reveal the animals of Ice Age Texas".

Summary from John Moretti

New discoveries in Inner Space Cavern reveal the animals of Ice Age Texas.

John A. Moretti
Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin (UT)

Summary: Since its discovery in 1963, Inner Space Caverns has been famous for its rich abundance of Ice Age fossils. Those fossils represent mammoths, extinct horses, saber-tooth cats, and other animals that went extinct over 11,000 years ago. I am exploring the Ice Age archive preserved in Inner Space Cavern for lessons about how animal communities change over time and how changes in the past led to the animal community of today. My investigations have recovered new fossils of bats, giant jaguars, and tiny antelope-like pronghorn. Research and analysis of those fossils are providing new insights about the origins of the native fauna of Texas and revealing that Inner Space Caverns contains one of the oldest, longest, and most important troves of Ice Age fossils anywhere in Texas. Come learn more about this famous cave and the ancient history of the Texas Hill Country!

Expanded Summary: Fossils from the Ice Age were found in Inner Space Cavern in Williamson County, Texas, soon after its discovery in 1963. Cavers from Dallas-Ft. Worth and from Austin soon began exploring the cave and made the first fossil discoveries. Those cavers invited paleontologist Dr. Bob H. Slaughter at Southern Methodist University to come and see what they had found.

When we talk about the Ice Age, we are referring to a formal period of geologic time, known as the Pleistocene Epoch. The Pleistocene spanned from 2.588 million years ago to 11,700 years ago. The fossils in the cave here are at the young end of that range, within the Late Pleistocene (~125,000 to 11,700 years ago).

Most of the animals we find as fossils in Inner Space Cavern would have never voluntarily entered a cave. Individual bones from many individual animals were likely accumulating in the cave in a variety of ways. Bones from carcasses decomposing on the surface could be washed or blown into the cave. Owls like to roost around cave mouths and often will deposit the remains of their prey (in the form of owl pellets) into caves. Other animals, like peccaries, big cats, and bats use caves as shelter and some of those animals end up dying in caves as a result.

There are many caves on the Edwards Plateau that contain Pleistocene fossils, but Inner Space Cavern is really special. One of my older colleagues at UT, Ernest L. Lundelius, Jr. studied Inner Space Cavern in the late 1960s. Ernie taught us that the Ice Age record preserved in Inner Space Cavern may span tens of thousands of years and may extend back beyond the last cold, glacial interval of the Pleistocene. Such a record would be longer and reach further back in time than nearly any other cave in Texas. Such an expansive window into the past could help us better understand how and why animal communities change over time and why things like saber-tooth cats and mammoths went extinct while jaguars and white-tailed deer did not. Still, Ernie was not entirely sure about his conclusions, and we really needed more evidence to understand the natural archives in Inner Space. I took on that task because it was an exciting opportunity to learn a lot and have a real impact on what we know about the natural history of Texas. I am writing up my findings now and I am pleased to report that Ernie was mostly correct!

I designed my investigation to help me learn more about Inner Space Cavern specifically and, more broadly, how animal communities change over time. I excavated in five different locations throughout the cave, anywhere that had Pleistocene deposits. Those excavations gave me amazing samples of fossils from all different types of animals. I used those fossils to determine what types of animals were present in the past. I also used some fossils and other materials to obtain radiocarbon dates. Together, those samples allowed me to build a chronology for the Ice Age deposits in the cave and understand what species were present and when were they alive.

In my talk on 13 June, I described some of the many fossil animals that we have discovered in Inner Space Cavern, including glyptodonts, Jefferson’s ground sloth, jaguar, saber-tooth cats, and extinct peccaries. But most exciting discoveries were finding answers to big picture questions. For example, using fossil identifications, stratigraphic patterns, and a suite of radiocarbon ages, I was able to demonstrate that some of the fossils and deposits in the cave date to the last warm period of the Pleistocene, over 29,000 years ago. This is the first glimpse of that warm period from any cave in central Texas. More than just a new fossil or two, this finding opens a window into a part of central Texas history that we have never seen before.

Studying sites like Inner Space Cavern is the only way for us to learn about natural history in deep time. The archives in places like Inner Space Cavern are unique records of the past and if we know how to read those records we can learn about the past, about why the present-day is the way it is, and about what the future could be like. Its history class for the natural world. Inner Space Cavern preserves portions of Texas’s prehistoric history that may not be recorded anywhere else in central Texas. Those portions of prehistoric history fill in gaps in our understanding, kind of like finding long lost chapters to a history book. As we gain a clearer picture of the past, we gain a better understanding of the world we live in. Why do we have raccoons and rattlesnakes and not mammoths and saber-tooth cats? Why don’t we have deep soils in the region? What came before us? Bit by bit, fossil by fossil, rare and special places like Inner Space Cavern teach us about how nature works.

PBS Eons: The Dinosaurs Too Big To Be Dinosaurs #fossils #paleontology #dinosaurs #PBS #sauropods

There's a new episode of PBS Eons on Youtube.  This one is about big dinosaurs... really BIG dinosaurs.

How did sauropods, uniquely large land animals, actually live, with their anatomy and physiology pushed to such extremes? Well, their unprecedented gigantism came with some equally massive costs…

Fossil Friday #270: Anthracomedusa turnbulli #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #FossilFriday #jellyfish #pennsylvanian #cnidarianfossil

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #270.  Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website.  We will post any fossil pictures you send in to [email protected].  Please include a short description or story.  Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world!

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For this week, we have a beautiful Anthracomedusa turnbulli jellyfish from the Pit 11 locality of Mazon Creek.  Anthracomedusa turnbulli was described by Ralph Johnson and Eugene Richardson, Jr. in 1968.  Anthracomedusa turnbulli was named for Jim Turnbull, who was one of Richardson essential assistants in the field during the 1960s. It probably doesn't need to be said, but jellyfish are rare in the fossil record.  Mazon Creek has a couple species of jellyfish and a very common sea anemone.

This gorgeous specimen comes from Ben Riegler, who has sent us some other fascinating specimens like the hooded tick spider in Fossil Friday #41.  Thanks for sharing, Ben!

Throwback Thursday #270: Believe It Or Not #history #TBT #ThrowbackThursday #poem #collecting #rockcollecting #rockhound

This is Throwback Thursday #270. 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 [email protected]. Thanks! email:[email protected].

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We have a poem about collecting... collecting fossils. artifacts, minerals, and just rocks.  It's easy to over indulge and collect too much... is too much possible?  That seems to be the subject of this poem and its tongue in cheek ending. The poem was penned by Peggy Allaway, daughter of Bill Allaway who was the first chairman of ESCONI.  Peggy had quite the talent for poetry, serving as poeta laureate at the University of Illinois in the early 1950s.

This poem appeared in the May 1950 edition of the ESCONI newsletter.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

There was a rock hunter
Who sat on a hill.
He was tall, dark, and handsome.
(His first name was Bill.)

He'd been digging for fossils
In the heat of the day,
But all he could find
Was a truck load of clay.

He mumbled and grumbled
While poking the sod
In search of a fern leaf
Or small ceph'lopod.

His rock-hunting partner
Was out digging too.
His find of the day
Was a rock in his shoe.

He gasped and he wheezed
As he poked all around
In search of an arrow head
Deep in the ground.

With a sigh of despair
And a shake of his head
He reached for an object,
A amall hunk of lead.

"I'm tired of all this!"
Was the sorrowful cry
"Let's go for some coffee
And fresh apple pie."

"I'm tired of this business
I'm ready to quit
No more of this hunting.
I'm just going to sit."

So they gave up their hobby
With no sign of grief
While their wives settled back
With a sigh of relief.

You may think that this poem
That I've written tonite
Is rather fantastic
And you are so right!

Peggy Allaway

PBS NOVA - Great Mammoth Mystery #fossils #extinction #evolution #paleontology #mammoths

PBS NOVA just published the "Great Mammoth Mystery" on Youtube.

Sir David Attenborough investigates a unique site in southern England where amateur fossil hunters uncovered giant mammoth bones and evidence of Neanderthals. A team of paleontologists and archaeologists soon discover that the site preserves rare evidence of the extinct beasts and early human inhabitants of Britain dating to over 200,000 years ago. What skills did the early humans have to help them survive during the Ice Age? How did they hunt and protect themselves against formidable creatures such as mammoths? With hands-on experiments with replicas of Neanderthal-era spears and stone tools, the world of prehistoric Britain comes to life.

Official Website: https://to.pbs.org/4js2FhH | #novapbs

 

ESCONI Rock, Mineral, and Fossil Swap - August 23rd, 2025 - DuPage County Fairgrounds #rocks #minerals #fossils #swapmeet

ESCONI will be holding a Rock, Mineral, and Fossil Swap on August 23rd, 2025 at the DuPage County Fairgrounds from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM.  Come on out!

Mazon Monday #274: George Langford Sr. Passes Away on June 16th, 1964 #fossils #paleontology #history #MazonMonday #MazonCreek @FieldMuseum #pennsylvanian #carboniferous

This is Mazon Monday post #274.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

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Recently, I ran across the letter from George Langford Jr. upon the death of his father - George Langford Sr. The letter is the subject of this post and follows below.

George Langford Sr. is giant in the history of Mazon Creek.  Before Jack Wittry's books, George's books were the go-to source of information about Mazon Creek.  George wrote three books about Mazon Creek fossils. The first was published in 1958 and the second in 1963. Unfortunately, the third was published well after his death in the 1990s (Mazon Monday #74).

Last year (Mazon Monday #220), we posted Jim Konecny's article about George for the 60th Anniversary of George's passing.  Jim's article does a great job describing who George was and how he contributed to the science of Mazon Creek.  Therefor, we have repeated it.

Top photo: Tony Sobolik, George Langford, and Jim Konecny.  George is signing one of his books.  Bottom photo: George in his office at the Field Museum.

June 16, 1994 marks the 30th anniversary of the death of George Langford. The name George Langford is synonymous with the Mazon Creek Area. Not since Leo Lesquereux's published monograph in 1870 on Pennsylvanian flora had there been such a complete study of Pennsylvanian coal flora in the United States.

Who was this man George Langford? He was a paleontologist, archaeologist, author, artist, engineer, inventor, and athlete.

He was born on May 26, 1876 in Denver, Colorado. His family starting with his grandfather, had long been engaged in iron founding. Therefore, it was quite natural for him to enter into the same business. He graduated from Yale University in 1897 with an engineering degree. His athletic prowess surfaced at this time. He was a member of the rowing team, having been stroke on the crew for three years. In 1895, the crew went to the Henley Regatta in England.

In 1900 he moved to Joliet, Illinois where he was employed as an engineer and draftsman by the McKenna Processing Company - later becoming president of the company. It was at this time that he sustained a serious injury at the factory. While inspecting a piece of machinery his left arm was caught in some gears and literally pulled out of the socket at the shoulder. While with the McKenna Company, he was the originator of many inventions and secured numerous patents in the company name.

He was a dedicated family man amusing his children, George, Jr. and Lyda, with stories about prehistoric life. Later these stories were written down and published as 4 separate books. He also Sculpted bas reliefs of prehistoric animals for them.

In the early 1900's, he became engaged in an extremely valuable archaeological excavation - this being the famous ‘Fisher Mounds' site. He located the mounds and salvaged all of the artifacts and preserved this important village site from destruction by a gravel company. His reports were published in the American Anthropologist (1927) and in the Transactions of the Illinois Academy of Science. The artifacts were deposited with the University of Chicago.

It was however his work at the strip mines that he was best noted for. Although his first trip to these mines in 1937 was a disappointing one it sparked an interest that kept him coming back over and over. Accompanied by his son George, Jr. he spent countless hours collecting, sorting, and identifying his finds. He estimated that he had collected at least 250,000 concretion specimens. In order to expose the fossils, these concretions, or nodules, must be placed on a hard surface and struck with a hammer to split them open. In order for George to crack these nodules, it was necessary, for him, to hold them with his feet. Facetiously he would remark "Occasionally the collector misses his aim and hits his thumb —- a painful injury results. When I miss my aim my shoes protect my feet. I have split many thousands of nodules and I have never hit my thumb".

Because of a dispute with the federal government over the use of some of the McKenna patents, George closed the company in 1945 and left Joliet. He moved into an apartment near Lincoln Park in Chicago. His massive collection was divided into twelve smaller ones that were donated to small colleges, a major one that was placed in the Illinois State Museum and the bulk was placed in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. For the first time in his life he was without an occupation and without his collection. This did not deter this determined and energetic man. He secured permission from the Field Museum to come and curate his former collection.

In 1947, he started on a second career as Curator of Plant Fossils at the museum.  Imagine this at age 71 when most men are retired.  He continued collecting plant fossils not only in the strip mines but also on trips for the museum in Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi. He discontinued his field work in 1959 and retired from the museum in 1962.  Two of his monographs on the Mazon Creek Flora & Fauna have been published by Esconi Associates.

The last time I visited George was June 19, 1963 (the above photo was taken on that date by my wife Sylvia).  He was working on his third monograph.  His desire and energy remained with him to the end. He died on June 16, 1964 at the age of 88.

Jim Konecny

The September 1964 edition of the ESCONI newsletter featured a memorial to George.

George Langford

On June 16, 1964, the world of science lost a great man. George Langford metallurgist, archaeologist, paleontologist, paleobotonist -passed away on this day, exactly one year after Esconi Associates published his second manuscript. Not since Leo Lesquereux brought out his "Pennsylvania Flora" in 1870 has there been such a complete study of the Pennsylvanian coal flora in America.

In 1937, at an age when most men would be con-templating retirement, Mr. Langford started to amass a tremendous fossil collection so that those following him would have a richer understanding of the Pennsylvanian times and its associated flora and fauna. The name George Långford has become synonymous with Mason Creek Area fossils, and a number of species have been named after him.

Year after year, regardless of the weather, he plodded over the spoil heaps carrying a pail in one hand and a collecting bag around his neck. One is filled with admiration, love, and respect when you become aware that the thousands of specimens were collected and split by a man who had previously lost one arm.

His determination to benefit the world of paleobotany was incessant. Although he retired as Curator of Fossil Plants at the Chicago Natural History Museum in January 1962, he continued to work on another manuscript to the very end.

George Langford was a tall man, both in stature and character a pity that he had but 88 years to give to this world.

The Langford family appreciated George's long relationship with ESCONI.  George Langford, Jr. wrote this letter of appreciation to ESCONI... addressed to John Ade, who was president of ESCONI in 1964.

Mr. John Ade, President
ESCONI
Box 321
Downers Grove, Ill

Dear Mr. Ade,

My mother and my sister and I want to express our deep appreciation to ESCONI for the article published in your September issue of the Earth Science News.

It is a great consolation to us to be reminded of the affectionate regard in which Father was held by so many people.

Father enjoyed his association with ESCONI immeasurably - particualarly the shared experiences and travels involved in the publication of his two books on the Wilmington coal fossil nodules.

Thank you very much indeed.

Sincerely yours,

George Langford, Jr.

 

The Conversation: Why Dippy the dinosaur remains beloved, 120 years after arriving at the Natural History Museum #fossils #paleontology #dinosaurs #sauropods #london #jurassic #dippy

Dippy at the unveiling ceremony at the Reptile Gallery of the Natural History Museum in 1905. WikiMedia

The Conversation has an interesting piece about Dippy the Diplodocus carnegiei, who is the star of the Natural History in London.  Dippy first went on display in 1905 at the Natural History Museum in London.  Dippy arrived in London as part of a campaign for public education by the Scottish-American millionaire Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919).  At that time, museums were looking for their place in the academic landscape.

Dippy arrived in London in 1905 as part of a campaign for public education by the Scottish-American millionaire Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919). At the time, there was a debate in academic circles about the function of museums and how far professionals should go in seeking to educate the public.

There was considerable reticence about going too far. Many professors felt that showing dinosaurs to the public would be unprofessional in instances where they moved from description of facts into the realm of speculation. They also did not want to risk ridicule by conveying unsupported information about the appearance and lifestyle of the great beasts. Finally, many professors simply did not see such populism as any part of their jobs.

But, at that time, the American Museum of Natural History was well established in New York and its new president, Henry Fairfield Osborn (1857-1935) was distinctly a populist. He sponsored the palaeo artist Charles Knight (1874-1953), whose vivid colour paintings of dinosaurs were the glory of the museum and influential worldwide. Osborn was as hated by palaeontology professors as he was feted by the public.

Carnegie pumped his steel dollars into many philanthropic works in his native Scotland and all over America, including the Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. When he heard that a new and complete skeleton of a diplodocus had been dug up in Wyoming, he bought it and brought it to his new museum. It was named as a new species, Diplodocus carnegiei.

On a visit to Carnegie’s Scottish residence, Skibo Castle, King Edward VII saw a sketch of the bones and Carnegie agreed to donate a complete cast of the skeleton to Britain’s Natural History Museum.