Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fair Grounds #show #gems #minerals #fossils #rocks #awesometime

Fossil Friday #257: Calamostachys tuberculata Cone from the Mazon River #fossils #paleontology #FossilFriday #MazonCreek #cone #calamites #horsetail #pennsylvanian

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #257.  This is a 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 hash tag #FossilFriday on Twitter/X and Bluesky for contributions from around the world!

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We have a gorgeous Calamostachys tuberculata cone from the Mazon River for this week's Fossil Friday.   It was sent in by George Witaszek.  When George sends something in, you know it will be awesome.  He has a very good eye... I wish I had his luck!

C. tuberculata is one of the reproductive cones of Calamites.  It was described by Kaspar Maria von Sternberg (1761-1838) in 1825 as Bruckmannia tuberculata.  Lesquereux placed B. tuberculata in Asterphyllites.  And, it was later moved to Calamostachys by Bell in 1938.  Langford referred to it as Volkmannia wilmingtonia.  For more information, see Mazon Monday #99.

Throwback Thursday #257: RIP Richard Fortey #fossils #paleontology #TBT #history #ThrowbackThursday #trilobites #naturalhistory

This is Throwback Thursday #257. 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 was saddened to learn of the passing of Richard Fortey last week.  He was a towering figure in the world of paleontology.  His 2000 book Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution remains one of my favorites as it rekindled my love for paleontology and natural history.  I first read it around the time my daughter began collecting rocks, which led to us joining ESCONI. That journey later inspired me to become a volunteer at the Field Museum of Natural History—a role I continue to cherish to this day.

I enjoyed reading all of his books, including Life: An Unauthorised Biography, Fossils: The Key to the Past, and The Earth: An Intimate History. He had a remarkable way of weaving together geology, paleontology, and science with engaging storytelling. What I found most compelling, however, was his ability to bring the history of scientific discoveries to life. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend picking up one of his books—you won’t be disappointed!

The Guardian has a very nice obituary.  RIP, Richard!

Richard Fortey at the Natural History Museum in 2004. He worked there for more than 30 years. Photograph: Independent/Alamy

While on a school field trip to Pembrokeshire in Wales in the early 1960s, the 14-year-old Richard Fortey stumbled across his first trilobite – the 500-million-year-old fossil of a prehistoric marine animal. This chance event ultimately led him to a long and distinguished career as a palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum. He also forged a parallel career as an inspirational communicator via his books and TV series. His colleague Dr Sandra Knapp notes that “Richard was the definition of polymath”, while Bill Bryson thought him “without peer amongst science writers”.

Spurred by that childhood discovery, Fortey, who has died aged 79 after a short illness, became one of the world’s leading experts on trilobites and graptolites, another group of invertebrates found in the same rocks. In more than 250 scientific papers, he significantly furthered scientific knowledge of their complex evolution and lifecycles, while reaching a broader, non-specialist audience with his bestselling popular science books. The first of these was the 1982 volume Fossils: The Key to the Past, whose fifth edition was published more than 30 years later in 2015. Others included The Hidden Landscape (1994), Life: An Unauthorised Biography (1997), Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution (2000) and The Earth: An Intimate History (2004).

Relatively late in life, in his mid-60s, Fortey embarked on a new career as a television presenter on BBC Four series. Originally broadcast from 2012 to 2016, these were Survivors: Nature’s Indestructible Creatures, The Secret Life of Rockpools, Fossil Wonderlands, The Magic of Mushrooms and Nature’s Wonderlands.

Earlier in his career he had appeared in several programmes with Sir David Attenborough, and in 2004, he was a member of the Palaeontological Association team on University Challenge – The Professionals, which beat a team from the Eden Project.

...

125-Million-Year-Old Scorpion Fossil Uncovered in China #fossils #paleontology #scorpion #arthropod #cretaceous

Jeholia longchengi is the first Mesozoic scorpion from China. Image credit: Jie Sun / Xuan et al., doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2025.01.035.

SciNews has a story about a 125 million year old scorpion.  The amazing fossil was discovered in the Yixian Formation at Heishangou village, Chifeng city, Nei Mongol, China.  The fossil animal has been named  Jeholia longchengi and dates to the early Cretaceous Period.  The paper "First Mesozoic scorpion from China and its ecological implications" was published in the journal Science Bulletin.

“Scorpions belong to the class Arachnida within Arthropoda, with relatively few fossil records,” said first author Dr. Qiang Xuan, a researcher at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and the Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and colleagues.

“The earliest scorpions come from the mid Silurian, and at least some of them have been interpreted as transitional forms from sea to land.”

“Despite being among the earliest terrestrial arthropods, fossil and living scorpions retain a largely conservative body plan.”

“Mesozoic scorpions are mainly from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, whereas compression fossil of scorpions normally deposited in the strata are relatively rare except in the Late Triassic Keuper Sandstone Formation of England and the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil.”

PBS Eons: The Graveyard at the Center of the Earth #geology #platetectonics #earthscience

PBS Eons has a new episode.  This one is about plate tectonics... how and why.

Scientists have been trying to solve the mystery of why plate tectonics works the way it does for over a hundred years. And they might have just uncovered a key to cracking it.

Mazon Monday #260: Mazon Creek and the Field Museum in the News! #fossils #paleontology #MazonMonday #MazonCreek #pennsylvanian #illinois #collecting #fossilcollecting

This is Mazon Monday post #260.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

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Sorry for the delay today.   Typepad was having technical difficulties.

WBEZ had a recent story about Mazon Creek fossils.  Some of our favorite scientists at the Field Museum were mentioned in the article.

Arjan Mann, a paleontologist at the Field Museum of Natural History who specializes in Mazon Creek fossils, is studying what he thinks might be a new species of salamander ancestor. This fossil is just one of many that was found just 50 miles south of Chicago.   Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

Field “super volunteer” Jack Wittry arrives early in the morning at the museum to identify and catalogue the fossils that have been his life’s work. Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

Inside the fossil hunt: Digging for the monsters of Illinois’ Mazon Creek

Under McFetridge Drive in Chicago, two stories down in the catacombs of the Field Museum of Natural History, Jack Wittry slides open a handmade wooden drawer. There are thousands of such drawers that visitors never see, in row after row of towering, metal cabinets.

These drawers hold more than 63,000 specimens that were dug out of the ground 50 miles south of Chicago over a 200-year period. Hammered open by people like Wittry to find a prize inside, they represent one of the most spectacular fossil beds on the planet: the Mazon Creek lagerstatte, or mother lode.

Wittry lifts a two foot-long dagger-shaped rock from the drawer and hands it to a visitor. It is 300 million years old, twice the age of the dinosaurs upstairs. The rust-colored stone is split into two halves; on each half is an imprint of an extinct conifer leaf in exquisite detail. The neatly typed tag identifies it as Cordaites borassifolius and credits “J. Wittry.”

A fossil hunter found all eight pieces of it while wading in waist-deep creek water and feeling the bottom with his bare feet.

The Field Museum holds tens of thousands of specimens in its Mazon fossil collection. They are encased within a “concretion” where all of the soft parts are exposed in exquisite detail.  Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

Cal So, a post-doctoral student, works with Mann’s team to create a three dimensional rendering of a newly discovered salamander ancestor, using CT scans and electron microscopy. Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

The plant fossils of Mazon Creek are stored in rows of cabinets two stories underneath the Field Museum, where Michael Donovan is the collections manager. Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fair Grounds #show #gems #minerals #fossils #rocks #awesometime

Day 1 report... Awesome!   One more day, don't miss it!

Here are some photos!  Lots of smiling faces at the welcome tables!

Cuddle up with a Tully Monster...

Charlie Shabica stopped by to say hello.

Jack Wittry with Rich and Pete Rock

Lots of books!

Eric at the Junior tables

More similing faces!

Don busy at work on a masterpiece!

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fair Grounds #show #gems #minerals #fossils #rocks #awesometime

Today is the day!  Come on out!

Photos from setup day...

Live Auctions

Displays

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #28: Dalmanites Trilobite #fossils #paleontology #trilobite #devonian

This is the preview post #28 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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If you love trilobites, here's another... Dalmanites limuloides from the Devonian of New York.  This guy will be up on Saturday.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #27: Leonapis Trilobite #fossils #paleontology #trilobite #devonian

This is the preview post #27 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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A beautiful Leonapis trilobite will be auctioned on Saturday.  These trilobites were found worldwide in the Devonian.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #26: Galena #minerals #lead #show

This is the preview post #26 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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This large Galena crystal will be auctioned off on Sunday.  Come check it out!

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #25: Spiropteris from Mazon Creek #fossils #paleontology #fern #spiropteris #fiddlehead #pennsylvanian #MazonCreek #show

This is the preview post #25 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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A gorgeous Spiropteris from Mazon Creek is our next preview specimen.  This is a fairly large fiddlehead.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #24: Ammonite from Germany #fossils #paleontology #ammonite #germany #show #jurassic

This is the preview post #24 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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A very nice ammonite from Germany is next up.  This is a Zugodactylites braunianum.  Come on out on Saturday for the second auction to get this one!

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #23: Tullymonstrum gregarium! #show #fossil #paleontology #MazonCreek #pennsylvanian #statefossil #tullymonster

This is the preview post #23 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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Another Tully Monster is up as Preview #23.  Come on out and you can own a specimen of the Illinois State Fossil!

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #22: Kallidecthes richardsoni from Mazon Creek #shrimp #show #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #pennsylvanian

This is the preview post #22 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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A detailed specimen of Kallidecthes richardsoni is our Preview #22 for the Live Auction at the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show.  To learn more about this shrimp, see Mazon Monday #48.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #21: Cyclopteris from Mazon Creek #MazonCreek #fossils #paleontology #show #pennsylvanian

This is the preview post #21 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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A Mazon Creek Cyclopteris obicularis is the next Live Auction Preview.  For more information, see Mazon Monday #59.  This gorgeous fossil will be part of the second auction on Saturday.

 

Fossil Friday #256: Mazon Creek Millipede #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #FossilFriday #millipede #arthropod #pennsylvanian #carboniferous

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #256.  This is a 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 hash tag #FossilFriday on Twitter/X and Bluesky for contributions from around the world!

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For this week, we have Euphoberia, a millipede from the Mazon Creek fossil deposit.  This particular specimen was found in the Mazon River during the summer of 2024.  To learn more, see Mazon Monday #23.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #20: Fluorite from Cave-In-Rock in Illinois #minerals #fluorite #show #illinois

This is the preview post #20 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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A stunning piece of yellow fluorite from the Cave-In-Rock area of southern Illinois.  This was collected by an ESCONI member many years ago.

Throwback Thursday #256: Scenes from the 2018 Show #fossils #paleontology #minerals #show #TBT #history #ThrowbackThursday

This is Throwback Thursday #256. 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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Here are some scenes from the 2018 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show, which was held on March 25th and 26th, 2018.

Nice view of the floor

Hello, come on in!

What do you have there, Marie?

Andy and Bryan

Bruce, where's the Ginkos?

Don demonstrating lapidary... does he ever age?!?

Jeff cracking geodes

Display case from the Field Museum

Auction specimens

 

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #19: Oligocene Fossils From South Dakota #show #fossils #paleontology #oligocene #southdakota

This is the preview post #19 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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A Riker mount of South Dakota Oligocene fossils is preview #19 for the live auction.  This will be part of the auction on Sunday.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #18: Green Fluorite from China #show #mineral #fluorite #china

This is the preview post #18 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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A beautiful piece of green fluorite with calcite from Xianghualin, Hunan Providence, China is our specimen for preview #18.  This is a gorgeous piece.  You need to see this one in person!  This will be part of our first live auction on Saturday.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #17: Mazon Creek Chiton #fossils #paleontology #mollusk #chiton #MazonCreek

This is the preview post #17 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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We have a very rare Mazon Creek fossil to show you today.  This is a Glaphurochiton concinnus, which is a mollusk, belonging to the same Phylum as oysters, clams, cephalopods, snails, and gastropods. They always have eight ornamented segments or valves.  Glaphurochiton concinnus was one of the first animal described by Dr. Eugene Richardson, Jr. He named it  Helminthochiton concinnus.  It was later reassigned as Glaphurochiton in 1986.  For more information, see Mazon Monday #175.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #16: Protorthoptera #insect #show #fossil #paleontology #MazonCreek #pennsylvanian

This is the preview post #16 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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This is a Mazon Creek insect in the order Protorthoptera.  It will be part of the second auction on Saturday March 15th, 2025.

Mazon Monday #259: Pecopteris bucklandii #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #fern #pennsylvanian

This is Mazon Monday post #259.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

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Pecopteris bucklandii is one of the rarer ferns from Mazon Creek.  Like all the true ferns from Mazon Creek, P. bucklandii is an extinct species of the class Filcopsida.  It's fronds have been associated with the Caboniferous tree fern Psaronius.

Pecopteris bucklandii was named by Adolphe-Theodore Brongniart (1801-1876) in 1834.  Brongniart is considered by many to be the father of paleobotany.

Jack Wittry's book "A Complete Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek" has Pecopteris bucklandii on page 116.

Pecopteris bucklandii Brongniart, 1834

1834. Pecopteris bucklandii Brongniart: p. 319, pl. 99, fig. 2
1870. Pecopteris bucklandi Brongniart; Lesquereux: p. 401
1880. Pecopteris bucklandi Brongniart; Lesquereux: p. 244
1925. Eupecopteris bucklandi Kidston: p. 555, pl. 120, fig 6; pl. 132, fig. 1
1951. Pecopteris bucklandi Brongniart; Corsin: p. 266, pl. 145, fig. 1
1951. Pecopteris cf. bucklandi Brongniart; Corsin: p. 268, pl. 191, figs. 4-6
1969. Pecopteris bucklandi Brongniart; Darrah: p. 128

DESCRIPTION: The pinnules are alternate, contiguous, straight-sided, bluntly terminated, and slightly oblique. The rachis is smooth or lightly striate. The pinnules may appear to be decurrent, or constricted on the basiscopic side with a sinus on the acroscopic side. The midvein is thick, straight, and slightly decurrent at the base. The lateral veins are distant, oblique, curve gently, and fork once near their bases. Lower in the pinnules, the upper vein may fork again.

REMARKS: Pecopteris bucklandii is rare. Fig. 3 is the only known fertile example of P. bucklandii and it appears to have elongated sori which conform at a generic level to Acitheca.

Specimens

FMNH PP26004

FMNH PP36127

FMNH PP11602

ESCONI member fossil - Marie Angkuw (Fossil Friday #255)

From George's Basement

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #15: Calcite #show #mineral #calcite

This is the preview post #15 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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A beautiful chunk of calcite is preview #15.  This is a very nice piece!

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #14: Fluorite From the Minerval Mine #mineral #fluorite #illinois #minervamine

This is the preview post #14 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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Preview #14 is the first of a few Fluorite specimens we'll have at the live auction.  This one has quite beautiful woith more than a bit of color!  This one was collected from the Minerva Mine in southern Illinois.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #13: Acanthodes Fish from Mazon Creek #fossil #MazonCreek #fish #show #pennsylvanian #fishfossil

This is the preview post #13 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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An Acanthodes fish from Mazon Creek is our 13th preview for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  This fish was collected a few decades ago.  Read more about Acanthodes in Mazon Monday #9.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #11: Malachite from Bisbee, AZ #mineral #show #malachite #copper #arizona

This is the preview post #11 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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A beautiful specimen of Malachite from the famous copper mines in Bisbee, AZ is preview #11.  This is a gorgeous piece!  Come out and see it in person for the Saturday afternoon auction.

Fossil Friday #255: Pecopteris bucklandii #fossil #paleontology #FossilFriday #MazonCreek #fern #pennsylvanian #carboniferous

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #255.  This is a 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 hash tag #FossilFriday on Twitter/X and Bluesky for contributions from around the world!

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We have a very rare Mazon Creek fern for this week's Fossil Friday.  This is Pecopteris bucklandii.

This gorgeous specimen was collected from the Mazon River by Marie Angkuw.  It was opened via the freeze/thaw method during the winter of 2024-2025.  Thanks for sharing, Marie!

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #12: Replica of SUE's Tooth #dinosaur #tooth @FieldMuseum @SUEtheTrex

This is the preview post #12 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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A replica ot SUE's tooth is up for preview #12 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  This replica tooth was made by the FIeld Museum.

Throwback Thursday #255: Looking Back At ESCONI For March 2025 #TBT #history #ThrowbackThursday #archaeology #kostersite

This is Throwback Thursday #255. 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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College students and archaeologists at the Koster Site in 1973

25 Years Ago - March 2000

• The ESCONI Show was held on March 4th and 5th, 2000.
• The Mineralogy Study Group was looking at Unusual Crystal Forms - twins and pseudomorphs.
• The Larson Quarry near DeKalb was the subject of the Paleontology meeting.
• Archaeology was discussing ways to protect priceless artifiacts from present and past sites.  That's a problem that has gotten worse as time has passed.
• Bill Popp, an ESCONI member since 1967, passed away.  He and his wife Virginia were Junior Group leaders for many years.
• Karen's Komments had information about evolution and the bird-dinosaur fossil problem.

50 Years Ago - March 1975

• The ESCONI show was called the Indoor Field Trip at that time.  It was held on March 1st and 2nd, 1975.
• ESCONI was working on displays for the Chicago Flower and Garden Show to be held in April.
• The General Meeting's topic was "From Dirt to Numbers, Or How the Prehistoric Inhabitants of the Koster Site Lived".  It was presented by Dr. James A. Brown of Northwestern University.
• The Mineralogy Study Group was discussing "Minerals and Man - Copper"
• Lapidary held a "Jewelry Photography Night".  Mr. Robert Davis was there to take photographs... what no cell phones?

70 Years Ago - March 1955

• The Regular Meeting featured Dr. Eugene Richardson, Jr. and Dr. Robert H. Whitfield of the Chicago Natural History Museum.  They were lecturing on "The Fauna and Flora of the Pennsyvalian Deposits Near Braidwood".  That would have been very interesting!
• There was a field trip to the Chicago Natural History Museum on March 19th.
• The Paleontology Meeting met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Barrick.  The subject was "Index Fossils" presented by Bill Allaway.
• John and Dorothy Ade joined ESCONI.  Their son Richard was listed as a junior member.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #10: Large Beetle in Amber #fossil #amber #insect #insectfossil #madagascar

This is the preview post #10 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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For preview #10, we have a large beetle in amber.  This fossil comes from Cape du Amber, Madagascar.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #9: Lobetelson mclaughlinae from Mazon Creek #MazonCreek #fossil #show #auction #pennsylvanian #shrimp

This is the preview post #9 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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Preview #9 is a beautiful Lobetelson mclaughlinae from Mazon Creek.  L. mclaughlinae was described in 2006 by Frederick Schram, who described many of the Mazon Creek crustaceans.  It is distinguished from Belotelson magister by the telson.  Mave a look at Mazon Monday #120 for more information.

New Duck-Billed Dinosaur Unearthed in China #dinosaur #paleontology #china #hadrosaur

Skeletal material present in the lambeosaurine specimen from the Upper Cretaceous Dalangshan Formation of southern China. Image credit: Wang et al., doi: 10.1080/08912963.2025.2454652.

SciNews has a story about the discovery of a new dinosaur in China.  The unnamed animal lived between 70 and 67 million years ago during the late Cretaceous Period, in what is now the Sanshui Basin in the northwestern part of the Pearl River Delta in South China.  It represents the first lambeosaurine known from South China.  Find the details in a paper published in the journal Historical Biology.

The fragmentary skeleton of a single hadrosaurid individual was unearthed at the Taipinggang site of the Dalangshan Formation near Zhaoqing city, Guangdong province, China.

The specimen is between 70 and 67 million years old (Maastrichtian age), and includes vertebrae, a humerus, ilium, femur and tibia.

“The specimen was collected from the Sanshui Basin in the northwestern part of the Pearl River Delta in South China, which is the closest inland basin to the South China Sea in the South China Land Source,” said China University of Geosciences paleontologist Donghao Wang and colleagues.

“A large area of Upper Cretaceous layers divided into two large depositional zones, occurs within it.”

Mazon Monday #258: Myriotheca scaberrima #fossils #paleontology #MazonMonday #MazonCreek #fern #pennsylvanian

This is Mazon Monday post #258.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

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Myriotheca scaberrima is a very rare fern, which was originally only known from fertile foliage.  It was named by Leo Lesquereux as Sphenopteris scaberrima in 1870.  In 1901, it was reclassified as Myriotheca scaberrima by Elias Howard Sellards (1875 - 1961).  Sellards was a paleontologist, geologist, and anthropologist.  The Texas State Historical Association has a nice summary of his career, which spanned almost 60 years.  Sellards played an outsized role in the development of paleontology in Texas.

Elias H. Sellards directed the first major phase of systematic fossil collection throughout Texas.

SELLARDS, ELIAS HOWARD (1875–1961). Elias Howard Sellards, geologist and paleontologist, was born in Carter City, Kentucky, on May 2, 1875, the son of Wiley W. and Sarah (Menach) Sellards. The family moved to Kansas during Elias's youth. He attended the University of Kansas, where he received his B.A. and M.A. degrees, and Yale University, from which he graduated in 1903 with a doctoral degree in paleontology. During his years as a graduate student in Kansas he discovered about 6,000 specimens of Permian insects, among the richest finds of its kind. After completing his doctorate he worked briefly at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh and taught at Rutgers University for one year. In 1904 he was appointed professor of geology and zoology at the University of Florida. From 1907 to 1918 he served as state geologist of Florida, and in 1908 he attended the first Conference for the Preservation of Natural Resources in Washington, presided over by President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1918 Sellards moved to Austin, Texas, where he worked in the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas. He was commissioned by the Texas attorney general's office to research the history of the Red River and testify in a boundary dispute with Oklahoma (see BOUNDARIES). His evidence gained a settlement favorable to Texas. During his forty-three years in Texas, Sellards also made numerous significant finds, including early sculpture in East Texas, estimated to be 25,000 years old; Pleistocene deposits in Bee County containing the fossilized remains of elephants, camels, giant wolves, and three-toed horses; a twenty-five-foot sea lizard near the Gulf Coast; and brontosaurus tracks. Sellards was the author of numerous works, including Pliocene and Pleistocene (1906), The Geology of Texas (1933), and Early Man in America (1952), and was widely honored in his profession. He served a president of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists in 1938 and the Paleontological Society in 1942. He was assistant director of the Bureau of Economic Geology from 1925 to 1932 and director from 1932 to 1945. He was a longtime member of the Philosophical Society of Texas. Sellards married Anna Mary Alford on September 4, 1907. The couple had two daughters. He died in Austin on February 11, 1961.

Jack Wittry writes of M. scaberrima on page 110 of his book "A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek".

Myriotheca scaberrima (Lesquereux) Sellards, 1902

1870. Sphenopteris scaberrima Lesquereux: p. 408, pl. 15, figs. 1, 2
1902. Myriotheca scaberrima (Lesquereux) Sellards: p. 199, pl. 7, figs. 5a-c
1958. Myriotheca scaberrima Lesquereux; Langford: p. 277, fig. 508
1971. Myriotheca scaberrima (Lesquereux) Sellards; Pfefferkorn: p. 12, pl. 5 figs. 1-7

DESCRIPTION: The penultimate rachis is thick and covered in pits which probably represent the bases of scales. The ultimate pinnae are linear-lanceolate, subopposite, pointed at the apex, and up to 40 mm long and 9 mm wide. The rachis is heavy and covered with wart-like bumps, which may have been the bases of hairs or scales. The pinnules are subtriangular and average 3 mm long and half as wide. They vary slightly in size along the pinna length. There are 40 to 50 equally spread, free, sessile, and spherically shaped sporangia on each pinnule. Each is 0.4 mm across and they completely cover the lower surface of every pinnule. The isolated spores are correlated with Camptotriletes triangularis (Pfefferkorn et al., 1971). The venation consists of a very heavy and decurrent midvein. The lateral veins are well marked and generally divide once at a shallow angle about halfway to the margin.

REMARKS: Myriotheca scaberrima is very rare. It was named only on fertile foliage that produced free sporangia. The sterile form had not yet been found at the time this species was erected, so the details of the venation could not be determined. Examples of sterile foliage have now been discovered. The sterile foliage and venation description found here is the first for this species.

Specimens

From Wittry - Field Museum specimens

FMNH PP58665

FMNH PP13811

FMNH PP58256

ESCONI Field Trip to the Lab of Dr. Paul Sereno at the University of Chicago, Saturday, April 12, 2025 #fieldtrip #dinosaurs #paleontology

 

There will be a field trip for ESCONI members on Saturday, April 12, 2025, to the lab of Dr. Paul Sereno at the University of Chicago. We will be given a tour by Dr. Sereno of his lab and all the exciting projects he is working on. The tour begins at 2PM and will last roughly 1-2 hours.

Rules are as follows:

1. You must register to attend this trip.
2. You must be an ESCONI member as of March 12, 2025. Please note that you MUST be paid through 2025. If you last paid in 2024 but your membership does not expire until after the trip, you still must be paid through 2025. No exceptions.
3. The attendance limit is 20.

To register for this trip, send Connor Puritz an email with the number of ESCONI members attending. His email address is connorpuritz AT gmail.com. He will confirm via return email within 24 hours. If you do not hear back from him within that time, send it again. If you register for the trip but can no longer make it, please let him know ASAP so other members can attend.

 

Dinosaur For Sale At the ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show! #dinosaur #styracosaur #model #show #esconishow

We will have a wooden styracosaur for sale at the ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show March 15th and 16th.  Come check it out!  It can be yours!

Fossil Friday #254 - Sphenophyllum emarginatum #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #FossilFriday #pennsylvanian

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #254.  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 hash tag #FossilFriday on Twitter/X and Bluesky for contributions from around the world!

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Sphenophyllum emarginatum is an extinct species of plants related to modern day horsetails.  Its sister taxa Annularia is more commonly found in the Mazon Creek fossil deposit.  The parent plant would have been similar to Calamites.   We looked at S. emarginatum in Mazon Monday #256.

This particular specimen was preserved in 3D as they often are.  That can make the fossil a little fragile.  The fossil was collected from the Pit 3 localtity in 2024.

Throwback Thursday #254: ESCONI Member Demographics in 1959 #TBT #history #ThrowbackThursday

This is Throwback Thursday #254. 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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The Chairman's Message in the May 1959 edition of the ESCONI newsletter detailed interesting statistics on the demographics of our members at that time.

There were 326 total members, broken down by Illinois cities:

City	Count
Aurora	14
Barrington	3
Batavia	2
Berwyn	17
Brookfield	6
Chicago	18
Coal City	2
DeKalb	2
Downers Grove	132
Elgin	4
Elmhurst	5
Glen Ellyn	3
Hinsdale	16
Joliet	2
La Grange	12
La Grange Park	2
Lake Villa	2
Lombard	4
Lyle	4
Naperville	8
Oak Park	8
Palos Park	3
Riverdale	15
St. Charles	3
Villa Park	6
West Chicago	3
Western Springs	7
Westmont	3
Wheaton	3
Other	17

By State

State	Count
Arizona	2
California	2
Colorado	3
Florida	1
Hawaii	1
Illinois	326
Indiana	2
Iowa	2
Kentucky	1
Michigan	1
Minnesota	1
Missouri	1
Montana	1
New York	2
Ohio	1
Texas	1

There were 2 members in Beirut, Lebanon, a Mr. and Mrs. Walter Baggley.   The note about Mr. A. H. Cornelison living in the newly elected state is very interesting and timely in 1959.   There were 196 junior members.

The article also highlighted the nine Life Members at that time.  if you've been reading these posts over the last 5ish years, some of those names will sound familiar...

• B. J.and Mildred Babbitt - very active in the early years... established the newsletter
• Dr. Frank Fleener - taught geology at the evening school from 1953 to 1956
• Stanley R. Harwood - donated outstanding minerals to the club and secured a good financial start for the club
• George Langford, Sr. - wrote three Mazon Creek books, published in 1958, 1963, and 1997 (posthumously)
• John and Lucy McLuckie - prolific collector, collection now at the Smithsonian. Also, sponsored yearly collecting trips to the Braidwood area.  The had a Mazon Creek fossil museum in the basement of their Coal City home.
• Cora and Stevens Novell - created the ESCONI logo and wrote the bylaws
• Dr. George Otto - professional geologist who organized and helped on many field trips
• Miss Helen Turner - a retired science teacher, she gave her vast mineral collection to ESCONI
• Dr. Ben Hur Wilson - Illinois State geologist that was helpful in setting up field trips.  Lectured on many topics to ESCONI.

We'll do follow up posts soon with the 1959 members' interests and professions and then contrast them with members in 2024.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #8: Thunder Bay Amethyst #show #mineral #thunderbay #amethyst

This is the preview post #8 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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This deep red and purple chunk of Thunder Bay amethyst will be part of the first auction on Saturday, March 15th.  These photos don't show the beautiful color in this piece!

Come out and see it!

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #7: Mississippian Crinoid from Gilmore City, IL #show #fossil #paleontology #crinoid #mississippian

This is the preview post #7 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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This exquisitely detailed Mississippian crinoid will be part of the auction on Sunday, March 16th.  Come on out and it can be yours!

Mazon Monday #257: Mazon Creek Fossil Species Named for ESCONI #fossils #paleontology #MazonMonday #MazonCreek #ESCONI #pennsylvanian #illinois #rockclub #amateurpaleontology

This is Mazon Monday post #257.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

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ESCONI has played a significant role in the study of the Mazon Creek fossil biota. Its members have authored at least nine books on the subject, beginning with George Langford, Sr. in the late 1950s and early 1960s, followed by the ESCONI Keys and Creature Corner books of the 1980s and 1990s, and most recently, the excellent works of Jack Wittry. Members have also contributed specimens—ranging from individual fossils to entire collections—to renowned institutions such as the Field Museum in Chicago, the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and other prestigious museums worldwide. In addition to these contributions, ESCONI members have dedicated their time to educating the public about the significance of Mazon Creek and science as a whole. Their efforts have earned ESCONI widespread recognition, including the honor of having two animal species named after the organization.

The first species named for ESCONI was Esconichthys apopyris by the late Dave Bardack in 1974.  Dave worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Field Museum.  Dave was a specialist on fishes and was responsible for naming and describing many of the fishes of the Mazon Creek biota, including early hagfish and lamprey.  He wrote Chapter 17 "Fishes: Agnatha, Acanthodii, and Ostreichthyes" of the Richardson's Guide to the Fossil Fauna of Mazon Creek". 

E. apopyris was described in "A Larval fish from the Pennsylvanian of Illinois" in the Journal of Paleontology.  The classification of this species is somewhat problematical.  It's a cordate of some type, some have proposed a larval lungfish, but a larval amphibian has also been discussed.  Collectors have referred to these fossils as the "Blade".  There is some new exciting reseach on E. apopyris so stay tuned!

The description of E. apopyris from the Richardson's Guide.

Esconichthys apopyris Bardack

Specimens are preserved dorsoventrally or later-ally compressed as well as partially twisted. Lat-erally compressed specimens typically show 25 to 30 myomeres (body muscle segments). There are two pairs of elongate, external gills; the pos-terior pair is usually half the length of the body. Each gill bears numerous fine filaments along the distal half of the gill bar. Two pairs of hard structures that cannot be identified (they are not otoliths) as specific parts of the skull lie posteromedially to the eyes. These specimens are probably larval based on the lack of ossification, presence of gills, and simple myomeric development. Taxonomic assignment of Esconichthys to a group of vertebrates is difficult.

Bardack (1974) suggested reasons why it might be a larval lungfish, and Schultze (1977) argued that it is probably not a lungfish or an amphibian without providing an alternative placement. This form, commonly called by collectors "blades," "grasshoppers," or "tadpoles" based on their preserved shapes, is the most common vertebrate in the Mazon Creek fauna, even if one counts all of the lungfish scales. All specimens are from the Essex fauna.

Specimens

The second species named for ESCONI is Esconites zelus.  It was described in 1977 in a paper by Ida Thompson and Ralph Johnson.  "New Fossil Polychaete from Essex, Illinois" was published in Fieldiana, a journal of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, IL.  

Esconites zelus is an extinct species of polychaete worm found only in the Mazon Creek biota, Essex fauna.   A nice drawing from the paper...

And, the dedication to ESCONI in the paper.

The resurrection of the species described above has been greatly aided by two groups: collectors in the northern Illinois area and colleagues at Field Museum. We dedicate this new species, Esconites zelus, to the members of the Earth Sciences Club of Northern Illinois (ESCONI) in gratitude for their valuable co-operation in making their collections available for study, in lending specimens to Field Museum, and in donating particularly valuable specimens.  Special thanks go to Mr. and Mrs. Ted Piecko, Mr. and Mrs. Francis Wolff, and Mr. and Mrs. Calvin George for generous donations of specimens. At Field Museum, Dr. Rainer Zangerl provided the genial matrix within which this study was made and Dr. Eugene S. Richardson, Jr., established valuable liaisons with collectors and gave advice and help generously.

The following appeared in Creature Corner by Andrew A. Hay and Don Auler.  The article was published in the November 1987 issue of the ESCONI Bulletin "The Earth Science News" and was later included in the book Creature Corner published in 2001.

Discoveries at Pit 11 of hitherto rare and/or unknown marine, near-shore invertebrates alerted investigators to the probability of finding annelid type worms among the Essex Fauna. They were not disappointed. Over 20 worm-like species have been described, 2/3 of which have been classified as polychaetes.

The polychaete structures preserved with the best detail are the jaws (mandibles), setae, and cirri (bristles and hairs/tentacles). One of the most common Essex polychaetes, Esconites zelus, also possessed the most visible and largest mandibles.

E. zelus has a long (5 and ½ inches in some specimens) narrow body outline. The number of body segments, 20 to 80, increase with length. Commonly the body outline is seen as a difference in color on the concretion surface. In other specimens, the fine detail visible is remarkable. Jaw apparatus is the most obvious feature. These large, prominent, wing-like mandibles are dark brown to black carbon films.

Body segments bear parapodia (fleshy protrusions/stump feet) on each side. Parapodia are equipped with bristles and hairs, used to propel these predaceous, free-swimming annelids. Occasionally, the branchia (gills) can be seen among the setae and cirri that adorn the parapodia. The "head" is equipped with long tentacles and a "tail" with several long hairs. Well preserved jaws and long body configuration are the best field marks.

Specimens

Video for ESCONI February 2025 Mineralogy Study Group Meeting - "Thunder Bay Amethyst" #minerals #amethyst #thunderbay #thunderbayamethyst #video

The February 2025 Mineralogy Study Group Meeting was held on February 22nd, 2025.  Our speaker was Dan Kile.  His topic was "Thunder Bay Amethyst".

Dan Kile has been an ardent field collector of minerals (along with his wife, Dianne) for nearly 54 years, mostly in Colorado.  In addition to field collecting activities, he has taught optical mineralogy for more than 25 years at several venues, including the Colorado School of Mines, the Hooke College of Applied Sciences (Chicago), and the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver.  He is a coauthor of numerous articles pertaining to environmental and mineralogical sciences, as well as author of a monograph on the Petrographic Microscope published by the Mineralogical Record; he was additionally a co-author of the update to Ed Eckels' Minerals of Colorado.  His articles in Rocks and Minerals magazine include those on Thunder Bay Amethyst (1984), Colorado quartz (1991), Del Norte thunder eggs (2002), Utah geodes (2015) and Mineralogy of the Amethyst Mines in the Thunder Bay Area (2019). He is retired from the U.S. Geological Survey, where his last position as a research geochemist entailed studies on crystal growth mechanisms and the mineralogy of clay minerals.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #6: Diplomystus dentatus from the Green River #show #fossil #paleontology #greenriver #fish #fishfossil #knightia

This is the preview post #6 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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From the upcoming 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show, we have a large and complete Diplomystus dentatus alta from the Green River Formation in Wyoming.   This gorgeous fossil will be part of the auction on Sunday, March 16th.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #5: Mazonova helmichnus #show #fossil #paleontology #MazonCreek #pennsylvanian #eggs

This is the preview post #5 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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Mazonova helmichnus is on the breakfast menu this morning.  This Mazon Creek fossil species is thought to be eggs from an amphibian or maybe lungfish.  We did a post about M. helmichnus in Mazon Monday #118.  

This specimen will be part of the second auction on Saturday, March 15th.

Fossil Friday #253 - Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #FossilFriday #seedfern #pennsylvanian #Morris

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #253.  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 beautiful specimen of Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri, a seed fern from the coal forests of the late Carboniferous Period.  These are fairly commonly found at the terrestrial Mazon Creek fossil localities.  For more information, see Mazon Monday #39.

This specimen was sent in by Marie Angkuw.  She seems to have a knack for finding very nice Macroneuropteris pinnules.  This fossil was open via freeze/thaw during the winter of 2024/2025.  It collected from the stretch of the Mazon River on the Kodat farm east of Morris, IL.   The last photo shows damage some likely insect damage.

Thanks for sharing, Marie!

Throwback Thursday #253: Field Trip to the Field Museum in February 1971 #fieldtrip #FieldMuseum #fossils

This is Throwback Thursday #253. 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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ESCONI had a field trip to the Field Museum in February 1971.  This announcement appeared in the newsletter.... Eugene Richardson, Jr. was the tour guide!

There was a report in the March issue of the newsletter.  46 people attended, with appropriate OOHs amd AAHs.  

They met Hans-Peter Schultze, who is now a Curator Emeritus at the University of Kansas.  He is a vertebrate paleontologist studing fossil fishes and their depositional environment.

 

Here are some photos from the trip.

2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #4: Wulfenite from Chihiahua #show #fossil #minerals #wulfenite #mexico #chihiahua

This is the preview post #4 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here.

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For today's auction preview, we have a beautiful piece of Wulfenite from Chihiahua, Mexico.  This specimen will part of the second auction on Saturday, March 15th.