This is Mazon Monday post #4.
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These pictures are of a specimen of Belotelson magister collected by ESCONI member Rich Holm in late summer 2019 in Mazonia South Pit 11. It is a crustacean that lived about 307 mya. It was first described by Packard in 1886 from Mazon Creek material.
Description: The Mazon Creek deposits of the region near Braidwood, Illinois rival the other famous Lagerstatten of the Burgess Shale, Solnhofen, and Liaoning for the variety of detailed life preserved. Many exquisitely-preserved specimens are found in the ironstone nodules that make up the deposits. The majority of collecting areas are the spoil heaps of abandoned coal mines, the most famous of which is Peabody Coal Pit 11. Pit 11 now serves as a cooling pond for the Braidwood nuclear power plant, but with over 100 other localities, specimens still come to light. This specimen is a member of an extinct lobster-like Order that flourished during the Carboniferous is North America and Europe.
When alive, it would have looked something like this.
