Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

Jamestown excavation unearths four bodies — and a mystery in a small box

The Washington Post has an interesting story of a recent archaeological find at Jamestown in Virginia.  Capt. Gabriel Archer, who died in Jamestown around 1609, was buried with a small sealed silver box.  The box contains seven bone fragments and a small lead vial.  It was probably a holy relic and was highly treasured as citizens of Jamestown endured many hardships, including starvation, disease, and war with the native Americans.  The relic seems out of place and raises intriguing questions about Jamestown's founders.

JAMESTOWN, Va. — When his friends buried Capt. Gabriel Archer here about 1609, they dug his grave inside a church, lowered his coffin into the ground and placed a sealed silver box on the lid.

This English outpost was then a desperate place. The “starving time,” they called it. Scores had died of hunger and disease. Survivors were walking skeletons, besieged by Indians, and reduced to eating snakes, dogs and one another.

The tiny, hexagonal box, etched with the letter “M,” contained seven bone fragments and a small lead vial, and it probably was an object of veneration, cherished as disaster closed in on the colony.

On Tuesday, more than 400 years after the mysterious box was buried, Jamestown Rediscovery and the Smithsonian Institution announced that archaeologists have found it, as well as the graves of Archer and three other VIPs.

“It’s the most remarkable archaeology discovery of recent years,” said James Horn, president of Jamestown Rediscovery, which made the find. “It’s a huge deal.”

 

Four-legged snake fossil found

CNN has an interesting video about a 110 million year old snake fossil.  The was discovered in Brazil and dates to the Cretaceous period.  Its most interesting feature... the snake had 4 legs!  Scientists hope it sheds light on how and why snakes lost their legs.

 

Fossil tour of Chicago skyscrapers August 9 and September 13

From dabble, there is a paleontological tour of Chicago skyscrapers a few times this summer.  The next dates are Sunday, August 9, and Sunday, September 13:

https://dabble.co/chicago/science/classes/fossils-the-magnificent-mile-with-peter-kaplan

ESCONI members are welcome to attend but please RSVP.  If you prefer to do a self-guided tour, a .pdf of the guide booklet can be provided.

Raise your hand if you know that the city of Chicago is surrounded by fossils ... not just in the ground, but up in the buildings .

Yeah, we didn't either, until this awesome class came along. But we're learning something new every day, and that tidbits of info is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg!

This interactive walking tour will take Dabblers on a journey through our city in a way they've never seen it before. Walk through the Loop and be prepared to be awestruck-- not by how much the clothes in the window cost, for a change-- but by how many historical, ancient, and magnificent fossils you can find embedded in the sides of the very same buildings you shuffle past everyday.

This class, which is one part history lesson, one part geology crash course and one part paleontological treasure hunt, will give you a thorough rundown on the building of the city of Chicago, and along the way will point out all the best fossils the city has to offer. And *everyone* gets a real Midwestern fossil to take home.

The Devonian extinction saw the oceans choke

Devonian land plants caused ecological havoc (Credit: Walter Myers/SPL)

The BBC Earth Blog has a story about the Devonian mass extinction, which is one of the least understood of the great extinction events in Earth's history.  In new research, Matt Algeo has proposed that vascular land plants were the cause.  The vascular land plants evolved during the Devonian Period.  Their roots penetrated the ground, breaking up rocks.  This process would have released minerals and nutrients that eventually made it to the oceans.  This could have led to algal blooms, which in turn led to "anoxic dead zones", as we see today with runoff from agriculture. 

The Devonian period saw the rise of "vascular" land plants, a group that includes everything from trees to ferns and flowering plants. More primitive "non-vascular" plants, such as moss and lichen, had already evolved before the Devonian began.

The vascular plants had a powerful impact on the land. Their roots penetrated the ground deeply, breaking up rocks and helping to create soil.

That is when things began to go wrong for life in the seas.

By breaking down rocks, the plants released nutrients and minerals. These would have benefited the plants, but they also got washed into rivers and then out into the oceans.
These nutrients were food for microscopic algae in the oceans, says Algeo, and those algae began to multiply. The resulting blooms of algae would have stained vast areas of the sea green.

The resulting "dead zones" can span many square kilometres

The algae were then broken down by bacteria, which used up oxygen in the process. "This can entirely deplete the water column of oxygen," says Algeo.

The end result was an "anoxic zone", a region of the ocean where there wasn't enough oxygen dissolved in the water for animals to breathe.

This happens in parts of the ocean today, for example when nutrients from farms run into the sea. The resulting "dead zones" can span many square kilometres.

In the Devonian, the dead zones would have spread over many thousands of years, gradually forcing animals into confined areas. If Algeo is right, the animals in the oceans then began to struggle, and ultimately died out: all thanks to the success of land plants.

 

Field Trip: Mulford Quarry, Rockford, IL on August 8th, 2015

There will be an ESCONI Field Trip to the Mulford Quarry in Rockford on August 8, 2015.

Rules are as follows:

1. Must be an ESCONI member as of August 1, 2015.

2. Must be at least 18 years of age.

3. Starts at 9 AM and ends at 2 PM.

4. Bring a hard hat, boots (no sandals, tennis shoes, etc), eye protection and a safety vest. Use appropriate tools (rock hammers NOT claw or roofing hammers, etc).

5. Sign up by sending me (Dave) an email at  [email protected]  with the number of ESCONI members attending. I will confirm by return email within 24 hours. If you don't get a response, send it again! No phone calls, please.

6. A picture of the quarry can be seen at: http://www.williamcharlesconstruction.com/Materials/Portfolio-Mulford.aspx  The address is 5515 Charles Street, Rockford, IL.

7. The rock at this quarry is Ordovician, definitely Galena Group and possibly deep enough to reach the Platteville Group. More details on that as I get them.

8. As usual, I will distribute the release form by email before the trip.

Yes, I know this conflicts with the trip to the rock shop - it couldn't be helped.

Be prepared for hot weather. And since we have until 2 PM to collect, don't forget lunch.

Send Dave Carlson ([email protected]) an email with any questions.

Mapping Everywhere Fossils Have Been Found in the U.S.

The Atlantic's CITYLAB blog has a story about an interesting effort to map "The United States of Fossiliferousness".  Cason Clagg is a fossil fanatic.  He's a software developer and lives in Southern Oklahoma.  He wants to map where fossils are found.  He used data from the Paleobiology Database, which coincidently was inspired by David Raup's work at the University of Chicago.   There are several versions of the map.  And, for those of you with an iphone, he plans to release an iphone app at some point in the future.

 

David Raup, Paleontologist Who Transformed His Discipline, 1933-2015

Distinguished palaeontologist David Raup from the University of Chicago has died.  He was 82.  Raup was an innovator who undertook some of the major questions in palaeontology, including mass extinctions and biologic diversity in the fossil record.  He promoted usage of computation and quantitative methods in palaeontological research at a time when computers were still in their infancy.  Probably best known for his work on mass extinction, he and his collaborator Jack Sepkoski found two components to extinction, a slow background rate, interrupted by rare and possibly periodic mass extinctions.  A true legend who will definitely be missed!

Raup’s former students and colleagues uniformly praised his unique creativity along with his astute capabilities as an academic adviser, senior colleague, and paleontological statesman. They remember him for the sweeping scope of the questions he asked, his analytical and quantitative rigor, and his skepticism and humility.

“David Raup ushered in a renaissance in paleontology,” said former student and colleague Charles Marshall, SM’86, PhD’89, director of the University of California’s Museum of Paleontology and professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley. “Before Dave, much of the discipline was centered on describing what was. Dave taught the discipline to think about the processes that might have generated the past record.”

He introduced statistical concepts to paleontology that treated the fossil record as an outcome of yet-to-be-discovered processes. Thus did Raup, as Marshall put it, create new intellectual space for paleontology.

“That was in my opinion his greatest contribution. It is not that Dave just transformed the discipline, but his students, and their students, continue to fill and expand that space,” Marshall said.

Another former student and colleague, Michael Foote, expressed similar sentiments.

“By any conception of what it means to be influential, Dave was one of the most influential paleontologists active during the second half of the 20th century,” said Foote, SM’88, PhD’89, a professor in geophysical sciences at UChicago. “In the areas he chose to touch, nobody, in my view, surpassed him.”

More Spectacular Moroccan fossils redefine evolutionary timelines

A marrellomorph arthropod, probably belonging to the genus Furca. c.

Credit: Peter Van Roy

 

ScienceDaily has a story about some spectacular new fossils from Morocco.  These fossils are from the lower Fezouata formation, which dates to Ordovician.  In the five years since its discovery, the Fezouata has revealed 160 new genera, with even more expected.  Many of these animals are holdovers from the Cambian and were thought to be extinct long before this younger time period, about 20 million years younger.   The original paper appeared in the Journal of the Geological  Society on July 8th.

The Lower Fezouata formation has been revealing exciting discoveries about life in the Ordovician -- around 485 -- 444 million years ago -- since its discovery just five years ago.

'The Fezouata is extraordinarily significant' says Professor Derek Briggs of Yale University, co-author of a study published today in the Journal of the Geological Society. 'Animals typical of the Cambrian are still present in rocks 20 million years younger, which means there must be a cryptic record in between, which is not preserved.'

Over 160 genera have already been documented from the Fezouata, with much more expected to be found. They include animals which would have looked perfectly at home during the Cambrian: armoured lobopodians -- worm like creatures with spines on their backs and short, stubby legs, and anomalocaridids -- huge segmented animals with remarkable feeding limbs, which are some of the largest marine creatures of the time.

 

Paleontologists give "Jurassic World" science thumbs down

Have you gone to see "Jurassic World" yet?  Quite a few people have, as its opening was one of the biggest ever.  CBS News has good story that discusses the "science" of "Jurassic World" and the verdict is that it's not very realistic.

    With "Jurassic World" hitting theaters Friday, paleontologists like James Kirkland are girding for the dumb questions they will they get from young dinosaur enthusiasts.

    Kirkland, the state paleontologist at the Utah Geological Survey who has been involved in the discovery of 20 dinosaurs including the Utahraptor, admits such Hollywood blockbusters could inspire a whole new generation of fossil lovers. Yet, he frets that this movie - much like its three predecessors - will be filled with so many factual errors as to spread misinformation.

    "You deal with these inaccuracies over and over every time you give a talk," said Kirkland, who says he still must dispel falsehoods from earlier movies such as a belief that Tyrannosaurus rex had an awful sense of smell and could not see you unless you moved, and that raptors could talk to each other and open doors.

    "It gets really old after a while," "If they wouldn't do that, we wouldn't have to deal with this. We could step to the more interesting issues like what we are discovering next."

    He is not alone. Several paleontologist interviewed by CBS News described the movie - and the toys, books and other products inspired by it - as a disappointment and a "missed opportunity" to provide a scientifically sound storyline while ensuring fans are still entertained.

myFOSSIL Project Newsletter for June 2015

A new issue of the myFOSSIL Project newsletter is available for your enjoyment.  You will also find links to past issues on that web page.  myFOSSIL is an effort to link fossil clubs from around the country to educate the general public.

Fostering Opportunities for Synergistic STEM with Informal Learners

Throughout the U.S., more than 60 fossil clubs and societies hold meetings, host speakers, organize festivals, and run field trips; conduct outreach; work with scientists; build their own collections; and contribute to the study of paleontology. However, in contrast to other science hobbyist groups (e.g., birdwatchers), fossil clubs are not closely networked nationally. Moreover, some fossil clubs have only limited access to the resources of professional paleontologists and natural history museums. Together, these realities limit their opportunities for informal STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) learning in the field of paleontology.

Initially based at the Florida Museum of Natural History and with funding from the National Science Foundation, FOSSIL is cultivating a networked community (known as a community of practice) in which amateur and professional paleontologists collaborate in learning, the practice of science, and outreach. This national community is determining the scope of FOSSIL activities, tools, and resources, and collaborating in their development and implementation. Mediated by the myFOSSIL Web space (www.myfossil.org), FOSSIL includes opportunities to: (1) communicate electronically and socially; (2) engage in training and development; (3) attend meetings and workshops (in person or virtually); (4) conduct outreach to underserved audiences; (5) contribute to and have access to the growing digitized collections in U.S. natural history museums; and (6) create and share personal digitized fossil collections. The inaugural FOSSIL project meeting took place in conjunction with the 10th North American Paleontological Convention in Gainesville, FL in February, 2014.

FOSSIL includes research to better understand how this approach supports the development of a community of practice and impacts participation in science. In addition, FOSSIL will build upon ongoing national “big data” initiatives that over the next decade will make millions of digitized fossil specimens available to diverse stakeholders, including fossil clubs and amateur paleontologists. The knowledge gained from FOSSIL will enlighten informal and formal STEM educators about how to effectively engage the public with scientific data.

 

How Dinosaurs Shrank and Became Birds

Credit: Katherine Taylor for Quanta Magazine

Quanta Magazine has an interesting article on the evolution of birds.  It's pretty commonly known that birds are dinosaurs, theropod dinosaurs.  That group includes some huge monsters like Tyrannosaurus rex.  Even the closest relatives to birds were quite large, at 100 to 500 pounds.  With the greater understanding of genetics and evo-devo, the story of how a line of dinosaurs shrank and evolved into birds is becoming much clearer.

For decades, paleontologists’ only fossil link between birds and dinosaurs was archaeopteryx, a hybrid creature with feathered wings but with the teeth and long bony tail of a dinosaur. These animals appeared to have acquired their birdlike features — feathers, wings and flight — in just 10 million years, a mere flash in evolutionary time. “Archaeopteryx seemed to emerge fully fledged with the characteristics of modern birds,” said Michael Benton, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol in England.

To explain this miraculous metamorphosis, scientists evoked a theory often referred to as “hopeful monsters.” According to this idea, major evolutionary leaps require large-scale genetic changes that are qualitatively different from the routine modifications within a species. Only such substantial alterations on a short timescale, the story went, could account for the sudden transformation from a 300-pound theropod to the sparrow-size prehistoric bird Iberomesornis.

But it has become increasingly clear that the story of how dinosaurs begat birds is much more subtle. Discoveries have shown that bird-specific features like feathers began to emerge long before the evolution of birds, indicating that birds simply adapted a number of pre-existing features to a new use. And recent research suggests that a few simple change—among them the adoption of a more babylike skull shape into adulthood—likely played essential roles in the final push to bird-hood. Not only are birds much smaller than their dinosaur ancestors, they closely resemble dinosaur embryos. Adaptations such as these may have paved the way for modern birds’ distinguishing features, namely their ability to fly and their remarkably agile beaks. The work demonstrates how huge evolutionary changes can result from a series of small evolutionary steps.