This is the "Fossil Friday" post #247. 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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Acanthotelson stimpsoni was a small syncarid shimp known from the Mazon Creek fossil deposit. It's one of the most common shrimp found amongst the Braidwood fauna. A. stimpsoni was described in 1865 by F.B. Meek and A. H. Worthen. Fielding Bradford Meek and Amos Henry Worthen were both prolific namers of taxa back in the middle 1880's. They collaborated on many papers through the years. Meek worked at the USGS. A.H Worthen was the second state geologist of Illinois and the first curator of the Illinois State Museum. He has an extensive fossil collection, which now resides at the Prairie Research Institute PRI at the University of Illinois. Acanthotelson was named for another early contributor to American science - William Stimpson. Stimpson worked at the Smithsonian Institution and was later the director of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. We looked at Acanthotelson stimpsoni in Mazon Monday #52.
Syncarida is a superorder of crustaceans. It consists of two extant orders Anaaspidacea and Bathynellacea, and one extinct order Paleocaridacea. There are 59 living genera, in six families. They generally live in fresh water, but a few species do tolerate brackish conditions.
This particular specimen was collected from Pit 11 during the summer of 2024. It was opened via the freeze/thaw process. This little shrimp appears to have been part of a coprolite.
