Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

New Species of Giant Tyrannosaur Discovered in New Mexico #fossils #paleontology #dinosaurs #tyrannosaur @SUETheTrex #dinosaur #tyrannosaurusrex

Life reconstruction of Tyrannosaurus mcraeen. Image credit: Sergey Krasovskiy.

SciNews has news of a new species of Tyrannosaur.  This one is called Tyrannosaurs mcraeensis.  It was described from fossils found in the Hall Lake Formation of New Mexico.  This is most likely a sister species of Tyrannosaurus rex.  which existed about 3 to 5 million years before T. rex.  The paper "A giant tyrannosaur from the Campanian–Maastrichtian of southern North America and the evolution of tyrannosaurid gigantism" was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The newly-identified species, Tyrannosaurus mcraeen, lived in what is now the United States between 71 and 73 million years ago, or between 5 and 7 million years before T. rex.

The dinosaur’s fossilized partial skull was found in the Hall Lake Formation of New Mexico.

Although the specimen was initially assigned to T. rex and was comparable in size to those of T. rex, the paleontologists propose that it belongs to a new species due to the presence of multiple subtle differences in the shape of, and joins between, the skull bones of the specimen and T. rex.

ESCONI January 2024 Junior Meeting - CANCELED

DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS, COLLEGE OF DUPAGE IS CLOSED TODAY; THEREFORE, THE JUNIORS MEETING FOR TONIGHT, JANUARY 13, IS CANCELLED.

 

THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE FEBRUARY 10, 2024.

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING. WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS MAY CAUSE.

 

This 288-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Scrap of Skin Is the World’s Oldest #fossils #paleontology #oklahoma #skin #reptile

The earliest known fossil of epidermis was preserved due to unique circumstances. Current Biology Mooney et al.

Smithsonian Magazine has an article about the discovery of the old fossilized skin.  The specimen belonged to a lizard-like reptile that lived about 288 million years ago during the Permian Period.  It was found in a cave near Richards Spur, Oklahoma.  This specimen represents the oldest known preserved skin.  The previous record was about 130 million years younger.  More detail can be found in the paper published in the journal Current Biology.

Paleontologists have been going back to Richards Spur for years. “It’s an exceptional locality,” says study author and University of Toronto paleontologist Ethan Mooney. Hundreds of millions of years ago, fine-grained sediment filled in fissures of an ancient cave system—burying the remains of early amniotes and other animals within. What makes Richards Spur special, however, is a unique interaction between the clay-rich cave sediment, a lack of oxygen, and oil that seeped from the cave rocks.

Most living things decay and completely break down after death, leaving no trace in the fossil record. Preservation is rare to begin with, and to find skin is even more unusual. In this case, the ancient animal remains buried within the cave were likely left in a relatively dry area with low oxygen. The tough skin, with scales made out of the same material as your fingernails, was able to desiccate and stand a better chance of being buried with the animal’s bones.

When the remains of prehistoric animals became buried in the Richards Spur cave, hydrocarbons seeped out of the cave’s stone to combine with sediment to create what Mooney calls “exquisite fossils.” That oil came from the transformed remains of even older fossil organisms that lived in the seas about 330 million years ago. The organic remains essentially turned into petroleum, which then interacted with the skin and bones of the animals buried in the cave and preserved the skin in three-dimensional detail. Those fossils helped to create new fossils that have survived for hundreds of millions of years.

Fossil Friday #195: Acanthodes beecheri #fossils #paleontology #FossilFriday #MazonCreek #fish #fossilfish #fossil #pennsylvanian #illinois

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #195.  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's Fossil Friday, we have a sweet little Acanthodes beecheri the Pit 11 locality of Mazon Creek.

Acanthodes is an extinct genus of spiny shark. Fossils have been found in Europe, North America, and Australia. Their geologic range is from the Middle Devonian until the Lower Permian.  This is the second A. beecheri we've posted in the last month (see Fossil Friday #191).  It was described by Charles Eastman in 1902 in "The Carboniferous Fish-Fauna of Mazon Creek, Illinois".  We took a look at Acanthodes beecheri back in Mazon Monday #9.

ESCONI member Chris Berg sent us this little beauty.  It was collected from Pit 11 and opened up back in July 2023 via freeze/thaw.  Thanks for sharing, Chris!

Throwback Thursday #196: Field Museum Photos - Columbian Museum of Chicago #TBT #history #ThrowbackThursday #illinois #columbianexposition #chicago #1893 #fieldmuseum @suethetrex @fieldmuseum

This is Throwback Thursday #196.  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!

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Today, we look back at the Columbian Museum of Chicago, which is now called the Field Museum.  It opened it's doors in June 2nd, 1894.  That was one year after the Columbian Exposition.  The Columbian Exposition ran from May 1st, 1893 to October 30th, 1893.  It had 27,300,000 visitors.  Considering that at the time, the population of the US was about 66 million, that is an amazing number!  The Field Museum's collection grew out of the exhibits at the Exposition.  For the museum's first 27 years, it occupied the Columbian Museum building.  That building now houses the Museum of Science and Industry.  Back in 2013 and 2014, the Field Museum displayed artifacts and specimens from the Exposition called "Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World's Fair".  This blog entry shows more photos and drawings of the Exposition.  Information about the museum's collection from 1893 can be found here. Many of the artifacts and specimens are part of the modern exhibits.

These photos come from the Field Museum Photo Archive over on Tumblr. 

Opening Day! Opening Day! Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair is open today!

Here is opening day of the museum on June 2nd 1894.The museum was originally housed in the World’s Columbian Exposition’s Palace of Fine Arts which is now the Museum of Science and Industry.

Come celebrate the Field Museum’s history!

© The Field Museum, GN78508.

Opening Day crowds. Field Columbian Museum of Chicago June 2, 1894.

11x14 negative

6/2/1894

Happy Chicago Day! On this day in 1893 the World’s Columbian Exposition celebrated Chicago Day, with record attendance. Our exhibit Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair opens on October 25th.

© The Field Museum, GN91733_064d, Photographer C.D. Arnold.

Crowds outside Administration Building. Chicago Day. World’s Columbian Exposition, October 9, 1893. On October 9, 1893, the day designated as Chicago Day, the fair set a world record for outdoor event attendance, drawing 716,881 people to the fair.

Lantern slide

10/9/1893

We hope you are as amped as we are about our exhibit Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair is opening up next Friday, Oct 25th, 2013. The fair was as beautiful at night as during the day being lit by over two hundred thousand electric light bulbs.

© The Field Museum, GN90799d_JWH_007w, Photographer William Henry Jackson.

Administration Building at Night, from Electricity Building. Large photographic print from The White City (As It Was). Photographs by William Henry Jackson. World’s Columbian Exposition 1893.

photographic print

6/1/1893

Field Columbian Museum in Jackson Park.

The Field Museum was incorporated in the State of Illinois on September 16, 1893 as the Columbian Museum of Chicago. Its original home was in the Palace of Fine Arts building, one of a handful of buildings left from the World’s Columbian Exposition. In 1921 it moved to the current building and in 1933 the Museum of Science and Industry opened up in the old building in Jackson Park.

Learn more about the Field Museum’s origins in the new exhibit opening this Friday, Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair.

© The Field Museum, CSGN21029, Photographer Charles Carpenter.

Field Columbian Museum exterior, looking south with Lake Michigan in background. Horse and buggy in front. German Building from World’s Columbian Exposition at far left.

8x10 glass negative

1906

Make sure to put on your best dress for tomorrows opening of Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair. Come and learn the origin story of the Field Museum.

And don’t forget your hat!

© The Field Museum, CSGEO6232_1, Photographer J.W. Taylor.

Detail from CSGEO6232. West Court large Right whale skeleton. Man and woman standing near the restoration model of Mammoth, skeleton of mastodon. 1 man and 3 seated women in period 1894 dress, woman in white. Field Columbian Museum.

8x10 glass negative

1899

The models in the case of invertebrates are made of glass.

© The Field Museum, CSZ6227

Glass models of invertebrates, made by father and son Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka originally exhibited at 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Includes Golden Jellyfish .Hall 24 Lower Invertebrates Field Columbian Museum.

8x10 glass negative

1899

PBS Eons: How Ancient Microbes Rode Bug Bits Out to Sea #fossils #paleontology #arthropods #cambrian #exoskeletons #evolution #microbes #photosynthesis #bacteria

PBS Eons has a new episode.  This one is about the evolution of microbes and how it might be connected to the evolution of the chiton exoskeletons of arthropods.

Tiny exoskeleton fragments may have allowed some of the most important microbes in the planet’s history to set sail out into the open ocean and change the world forever.

ESCONI January 2024 General Meeting - Friday, January 12th, 2024 at 8:00 PM via Zoom - "The Age of Fishes” #fossils #paleontology #fish #fishfossil #fossil

The January 2024 General Meeting will be held on Friday, January 12th, 2024 at 8:00 PM.  It will be presented by Matt Friedman, Professor/Director Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Topic: ESCONI General Meeting 8:00 PM - Topic: “The Ages of Fishes”

Time: Jan 12, 2024 08:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

 

Join Zoom Meeting

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Mazon Monday #198: Priapulites konecniorum #fossils #paleontology #MazonMonday #MazonCreek #worm #priapulidworm #pit11 #pennsylvanian #illinois

This is Mazon Monday post #198.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

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Figure 11.1, Priapulida konecniorum; modified after Shabica and Hay (1997). Scale bar = 5 mm.

Priapulites konecniorum is an extinct species of priapulid worm.  Priapulida is a phylum of unsegmented marine worms.  The name relates to the Greek god of fertility. Due to their shape and their extensible proboscis, they are sometimes referred to as "penis worms".  P. konecniorum is a rare fossil find; specimens are mostly known from Pit 11.

P. konecniorum was described in 1973 by Frederick Schram in "Pseudocoelomates and a nemertine from the Illinois Pennsylvanian", which was published in the Journal of Paleontology.  

Abstract

Four species of soft bodied worms are described from the Mazon Creek area, Middle Pennsylvanian, of Illinois. They are assigned to four phyla, three at the pseudocoelomate grade of organization: Priapulida (Priapulites konecniorum), Nematoda (Nemavermes mackeei), and Chaetognatha (Paucijaculum samamithion); and to the phylum Nemertea (Archisymplectes rhothon). These Mazon Creek worms are very similar to their living relatives. The fossils display the ancient origins of these phyla which are now seen to have existed virtually unchanged since at least the Middle Pennsylvanian.

The animal is named for Jim and Sylvia Konecny, who are well known to ESCONI members.  In the photo below, Jim Konecny is on the left, while Sylvia is in the middle.  They are presenting a dedication to Lucy McLuckie for her husband John, after his death in 1963.  Both Jim and Sylvia were very active in ESCONI for many years.  They were prolific collectors.  The majority of their collection was donated to the Field Museum in 2019.

Name derivation.-Named in honor of Mr. and Mrs. James Konecny, Mokena, Illinois, who brought in the first specimen to the Field Museum and donated the holotype.

In the credits, Schram lists various collectors with specimens - Dan Damrow, Jerry Herdina, Ted and Helen Piecko, Francis Tully, and William Popp.  All of them ESCONI members!

In the course of this study, specimens from several collections, most of them private, have been used. Prefixes denote these in the text as follows:

• PE, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.
• EX, private collection of Mr. Daniel F. Damrow, Norridge Park, Illinois.
• H, private collection of Mr. Jerry Herdina, Berwyn, Illinois.
• HTP, private collection of Mr. and Mrs.
• Ted Piecko, Chicago, Illinois.
• T, private collection of Mr. Francis Tully, Joliet, Illinois.
• Private collection of Mr. William Popp, Chicago, Illinois.

P. konecniorum can be found on page 11 of "The Mazon Creek Fossil Fauna" by Jack Wittry.

Priapulites konecniorum Schram, 1973

Priapulites konecniorum is a worm-like animal which likely lived in soft sediments and preyed on other invertebrates. Sustenance may have consisted of soft-bodied animals such as polychaete worms, characteristic of its modern relatives' diet. Priapulites would catch their quarry by extending a spined pharynx out of its mouth, grasping the prey while rapidly retracting the pharynx back into the gut.

Typically, the field marks are a bulbous proboscis that has lateral lines running down its length, often with a well-marked mouth opening. The trunk of the body is ringed, but not truly segmented as with members of annelid worms.

The "Richardson's Guide to the Fossil Fauna of Mazon Creek" mentions P. konecniorum in chapter 7B "Nonannelid Worms", which was written by Kirk Fitzhugh and Steven D. Sroka.

Priapulites konecniorum Schram, 1973 Figures 7B.2, 7B.4C

Description. Body 4-6 cm long, composed of introvert, trunk, and caudal appendage (Figures 7B.2, 7B.4C). Introvert slightly inflated, with 16 to 20 papillate, longitudinal ridges; little detail visible in anterior most region. Trunk of even width; cuticle with 30 to 40 distinct annulations. Caudal appendage poorly preserved, appearing paired in some specimens.

Remarks. The species is rarely found. Priapulites konecniorum closely resembles the extant species, Priapulus caudatus Lamarck.

P. konecniorum appears in the "ESCONI Keys to Identify Pennsylvanian Fossil Animals of the Mazon Creek Area", along with some nice artwork by Don Auler.

Priapulites konecniorum

This worm has a trunk clearly marked with 30 or more annular rings; number of rings may vary with size. Proboscis had 12 or more, lengthwise warty ridges. Surface markings give this animal the most ornately decorated body of the Essex worms. The average length is 55 mm with tail end seldom preserved, although two fan-like appendages are faintly visible on some specimens. Recent priapulids bear spines around their mouth apparatus, so it is assumed that P. konecniorum similarly equipped.

Specimens

 

The “Dolomite Problem” – Scientists Resolve 200-Year-Old Geology Mystery #minerals #dolomite

Professor Wenhao Sun shows off dolomite from his personal rock collection. Sun studies crystal growth of minerals from a materials science perspective. By understanding how atoms come together to form natural minerals, he believes we can reveal fundamental mechanisms of crystal growth, which can be used to make functional materials more quickly and efficiently. Credit: Marcin Szczepanski, Lead Multimedia Storyteller, Michigan Engineering.

SciTechDaily has a story about dolomite.  Researchers at the University of Michigan have published new research that solves the "Dolomite Problem".  The paper "Dissolution enables dolomite crystal growth near ambient conditions" appeared in the journal Science.  Until now, scientists have been unsuccessful creating dolomite in the laboratory.   Understanding this process should allow for the creation of new high tech materials.

For two centuries, scientists have failed to grow a common mineral in the laboratory under the conditions believed to have formed it naturally. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Michigan and Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan have finally pulled it off, thanks to a new theory developed from atomic simulations.

Their success resolves a long-standing geology mystery called the “Dolomite Problem.” Dolomite—a key mineral in the Dolomite mountains in Italy, Niagara Falls, the White Cliffs of Dover, and Utah’s Hoodoos—is very abundant in rocks older than 100 million years, but nearly absent in younger formations.

New research shows 'juvenile' T. rex fossils are a distinct species of small tyrannosaur #fossils #paleontology #tyrannosaur #dinosaur @SUEtheTrex

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Phys.org has an article about Nanotyrannus lancensis.  A paper in the journal Fossil Studies proposes that N. lancensis is a distinct species of tyrannosaur and not a juvenile T. rex.  

The first skull of Nanotyrannus was found in Montana in 1942, but for decades, paleontologists have gone back and forth on whether it was a separate species, or simply a juvenile of the much larger T. rex.

Dr. Nick Longrich, from the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, and Dr. Evan Saitta, from the University of Chicago, have re-analyzed the fossils, looking at growth rings, the anatomy of Nanotyrannus, and a previously unrecognized fossil of a young T. rex.

Measuring the growth rings in Nanotyrannus bones, the researchers showed that they became more closely packed towards the outside of the bone as growth was slowing. It suggests these animals were nearly full size; not fast-growing juveniles.

Fossil Friday #194: Asterophyllites equisetiformis from Indiana #fossils #paleontology #FossilFriday #MazonMonday #plantfossil #pennsylvanian #illinois #fossil #horsetail

This is the "Fossil Friday" post #194.  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 nice Asterophyllites equisetiformis from the Pennsylvanian deposits near Terre Haute, Indiana.  The concretions is that area come from the Dugger Formation, which sits atop the Springfield coal member.  The Dugger Formation is the uppermost formation in the Carbondale Group. The coal member of the Dugger Formation has been correlated with the Danville coal in Illinois and is now referred to by the same name.  It's been dated to about 305.5 million years ago, a little younger than the Colchester coal of Mazon Creek.  We did a post about the fossils of Terre Haute in Mazon Monday #36.  The spoil piles to the south of Terre Haute in Fowler Park come from the Chieftain #20 mine, which closed in 1969.  The plant and animal fossils found in this locality are very similar to what is found in the Mazon Creek area.

A. equisetiformis is related to Annularia, both are parts of the Calamites plant.  Calamites is related to modern day horsetails.  We looked at A. equisetiformis in Mazon Monday #103.

Throwback Thursday #195: Looking Back At ESCONI for January 2024 #history #TBT #ThrowbackThursday

This is Throwback Thursday #195.  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!

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Geology Class 1953 at Downers Grove High School

25 Years Ago - January 1999

• Dr. Paul F. Ries of Elmhurst College presented "The Many Faces of Salt Creek, Especially Flooding" for the General Meeting.
• The Paleontology Study Group was discussing the Oligocene.
• The Junior Group were doing fossil identification.
• Don Auler announced a field trip to Fermilab, Benedictine College, and Wheaton College.  Physics and fossils.... nice!
• There was a Brazilian Agate Sale by the Lapidary Study Group.

50 Years Ago - January 1974

• Tom Lalish became president of ESCONI and Don Auler became Publicity Chair.   That was Don's first board position.
• Additionally, Rich Rock became chairman of the Paleontology Study Group.
• The General Meeting topic was "Onyx - From Mine to Market" by Janet Schoenau of Casa De Onyx in Cary, Illinois.
• Tony Sobolik provided a book review of "Fossil Sharks: A Pictoral Review" by Gerald R. Case.
• "Dinosaurs" and "The Treasures of Florence" were programs at the Lizzadro Museum.
• The "Micromount of the Month" was "Pre-Fab Mounting".
• "Fossil of the Month" was Priapulites konecniorum, a Mazon Creek worm described by Frederick Schram.  It was named for the Konecnys.

70 Years Ago - January 1954

• The General Meeting was "Geology and Surface Features of the Chicago Region" by Dr. Leland Horberg of the University of Chicago.
• The juniors were discusssing Crinoids.
• There was an announcement for Geology classes held in the evening at Downers Grove High School and Proviso High School in Maywood, IL. (Throwback Thursday #144)
• Dr. Fleener, who was teaching some of the evening Geology classes, wrote "Mineral Identity - Density" for the newsletter.
• Evidently, snails average 0.000364 mph - fact from Facets.

Video for ESCONI December 2023 General Meeting - "Ancient Forest Pests: Plant-Insect Interactions in the Fossil Record” #paleontology #fossil #evolution #fossils #paleobotany #plants #insects

The December 8, 2023 General Meeting presentation was held via Zoom.  It was presented by Michael Donovan, Collections Manager, Paleobotany at the Field Museum will present "Ancient Forest Pests: Plant-Insect Interactions in the Fossil Record".

 

Plants and insects are the most diverse multicellular organisms on Earth, and their abundant interactions are fundamental components of ecosystems on land. Plant-feeding insects are highly sensitive to environmental disturbances, including past extinction events and climate change. In this talk, I will discuss my research examining how major environmental changes affected ancient insect and plant biodiversity and biogeography, and how those changes have shaped modern ecosystems.

Shark Teeth from the Bond Formation in northern Illinois #fossils #paleontology #shark #sharkteeth #fossilsharkteeth #illinois #lasalle #bondformation

Figure 1.Roadside exposure from which specimens were collected: A, map showing the location of LaSalle County within Illinois and the location of the exposure (star); B, view of the locality; C, the exposure of the LaSalle Limestone Member, Bond Formation. All teeth were collected from the talus at the base of the exposure.Photos by RG.

The journal Kentiana has a paper about fossil shark teeth from the Bond Formation in northern Illinois. The title of the paper is "First records of the chondrichthyans Heslerodus and Ossianodus from the Upper Pennsylvanian LaSalle Limestone (Bond Formation) of northern Illinois".  Kentiana is an open access journal associated with the Center for Paleontology, the Illinois Natural History and State Geological surveys, and academic departments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Abstract

Heslerodus divergens and an undetermined species of the genus Ossianodus are recorded for the first time from the Upper Pennsylvanian LaSalle Limestone Member of the Bond Formation in northern Illinois. Ossianodus is a new record for the state. Four specimens of H. divergens and one of Ossianodus sp. were recovered, all partially complete teeth. Descriptive and comparative notes are provided. Future studies of the formation may yield additional specimens of other vertebrate species.

Keywords

Heslerodus, Ossianodus, Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii, sharks, LaSalle County

Introduction

The shark species Heslerodus divergens (Ctenacanthiformes: Heslerodidae) is known from Pennsylvanian deposits across North America and Russia, including teeth, fin spines, and skeletal elements (Ginter 2002). In July of 2020, the senior author collected two teeth at an exposure of the Upper Pennsylvanian LaSalle Limestone Member of the Bond Formation near Oglesby, LaSalle County, Illinois (Figure 1). Subsequent visits to the site yielded several more H. divergens teeth and a single tooth assigned to the genus Ossianodus (Hybodontiformes: Hybodontidae). These specimens represent the first records of these species from the highly fossiliferous LaSalle Limestone Member and, in addition to being previously unknown from the LaSalle Limestone, this is also the first record of Ossianodus from Illinois.

 

ESCONI Board Members for 2024

PRESIDENT:  Phil Anderson

1ST. VICE PRESIDENT:  Katherine Howard

2ND. VICE PRESIDENT:  Irene Broede

RECORDING SECRETARY:  Valerie Anderson

TREASURER:  Andrew Jansen

PUBLICITY:  Chris Berg

LIBRARIAN:  Andrew Jansen

CURATOR:  Chris Cozart

HISTORIAN:  Richard Holm

Assistant Field Trip Chairman: Dave Carlson

Assistant Field Trip Chairman: John Catalani

EDITOR:  Don Cronauer

CIRCULATION:  Rose Jansen

PAST PRESIDENT: Keith Robitschek

MEMBERSHIP:  Rose Jansen

SHOW CHAIRMAN: Dave Carlson

MWF LIAISON REP: Dave Carlson

WEB ADMINISTRATOR: Richard Holm

Study Groups and Activities: (Non-Board Positions)

ARCHAEOLOGY STUDY GROUP CHAIR: Open

JUNIOR STUDY GROUP: Scott Galloway

LAPIDARY STUDY GROUP CHAIR: Open

MINERALOGY & MICROMOUNT STUDY GROUP CHAIR: Open

PALEONTOLOGY STUDY GROUP CHAIR: John Catalani and Tom Williams

ESCONI Events January 2024 #events #schedule #paleontology

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

Fri, Jan 12th	ESCONI General Meeting 8:00 PM - Topic: “The Age of Fishes” by Matt Friedman, Professor/Director Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Zoom link
Sat, Jan 13th	ESCONI Junior Meeting - 6:30 PM at College of DuPage - Topic: "The earth's processes, including the rock cycle" -- Canceled --
Sat, Jan 20th	ESCONI Paleontology Study Group 7:30 PM - Topic: "Publishing a New Fossil Find: Our Journey in Cyclocystoids (Echinodermata)" by ESCONI member Asa Kaplan and Terry Frank of Missouri Fossil Hunters Zoom link

 

Mazon Monday #197: Palaeostachya #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #calamites #cone #pennsylvanian #illinois #fossil

This is Mazon Monday post #197.  What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:[email protected].

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Palaeostachya sp. is a cone from a Calamites plant.  It is very similar to Calamostachys (Mazon Monday #99), which are also cones from Calamites.  Identification between the two can be difficult as the attachment point of the sporangiophores is often obscured.  

Parts of a Calamites plant

The genus Palaeostachya was originally erected by Frederick Ernest Weiss (1865-1953) an Anglo-German botanist. He also described Calamostachys.  While primarily a botanist, he worked extensively with coal-balls and published quite a few paleobotanical papers during his career at Owens College (later Victoria University of Manchester) in northern England.

William Crawford Williamson expanded upon Weiss' work in 1871 in the paper "A New Form of Calamitean Strobilus", which was published in the Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester.  The paper was based on a "fragmentary calcified specimen" found by a Mr. Butterworth.  The specimen was found in a nodule from the Upper Foot Coal at Roe Buck, in Strinesdale, Saddleworth near Manchester, England.  In 1887, Williamson readdressed the description in "On the Organisation of the Fossil Plants of the Coal" with new better specimens from the Oldham district also near Manchester, England.

The systematic affinities of the Carboniferous Calamites have now been a moot question for close upon fifty years—the period that has elapsed since 1828, when, in bis ‘Prodrome d’une Histoire des Yegetaux Fossiles/ Adolphe Brongniart first suggested their relationships to the recent Equisetums. At this time nothing was known of examples of Calamites  encased in a thick vascular cylinder; a product of the exogenous mode of growth resulting from the action of a camhial ring. At a later period Brongniart obtained such examples from Autun and elsewhere. But having then a conviction that no Cryptogamic stem could undergo an exogenous development, he concluded that two classes of plants had been comprehended in the genus Calamites; the one Equisetiform, to which he continued to give the old name, the other a Gymnospermous type, to which he assigned the name of Calamodendron.  His well-merited influence led to a wide-spread acceptance of these views ; but their correctness began to be seriously questioned many years ago, on morphological grounds.

After a prolonged conflict the conclusions of those who insisted upon the Cryptogamic character alike of Calamites and of Calamodendron have met with an extensive, though not universal, acceptance. Meanwhile both the opposing schools of Palaeontologists recognise the importance of discovering the fructification of these plants. Mr. Carruthers believed that he had found it in examples of Calamostachys binneyanaf and Mr. Binney arrived at a similar conclusion.! I have always rejected these conclusions, because of the conspicuous differences between the morphology of the Calamitean twig and that of the axis of the Calamostachys. These differences appeared to me much too great to make it possible for the one ever to have been a prolongation of the other.

Palaeostachya appears on page 78 of Jack Wittry's "A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek".

Palaeostachya sp. Weiss 1876

1879-1880. Asterophyllites ovalis Lesquereux: p. 36, pl. 3, figs. 6, 7
1958. Palaeostachya. Langford: p. 52, figs. 72, 73
1969. Palaeostachya Weiss; Crookall: p. 761
1979. Palaeostachya. Janssen: p. 90, figs. 73a, 75

DESCRIPTION: These cylindrical cones are very similar to Calamostachys. The major difference is that the sporangiophores connect directly to the bases of the sterile bracts.

REMARKS: Palaeostachya is rare. It is difficult to identify this taxon because the sporangiophores's attachment points are often obscured by the sterile bracts.

Specimens

From Wittry in "A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek".

From georgesbasement.com

From Wikipedia, Palaeostachya pedunculata