Contact Us:
[email protected]
ESCONI will be holding the 2024 Mazon Creek Fossil Day on October 12th, 2024 from 10 AM to 3 PM at the Coal City Public Library. Please come out and bring your Mazon Creek fossils. There will displays of Mazon Creek fossils and knowledgeable people who can identify your fossils.
Coal City Public Library
85 N. Garfield St.
Coal City, IL
Main Meeting RoomLecture on Mazon Creek Fossils 1 PM
Come on out for another great and informative day!
This is Mazon Monday post #234. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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ESCONI hosted the Fall 2024 edition of the Braceville Field Trip over the weekend of September 7th and 8th. The primary focus of the event was searching for Mazon Creek fossils and concretions. The site, commonly referred to as "Worm Hill," is known for its variety of marine fossils, including worms, jellyfish, sea anemones, and clams, with marine worm fossils being particularly common.
The weather was perfect for both days of the event, with temperatures in the mid-70s and clear skies, completely free of rain. Conditions were ideal, allowing a full turnout of 50 participants each day. Familiar faces mingled with some new visitors, and notable attendees included Arjan Mann, Mike Donovan, and Naiomi Cookson from the Field Museum, as well as Alan Keith, who traveled from Texas. There were several generous contributions to the fossil dump from Andrew Young, Ralph Jewell, Marty Houdek, Elizabeth Gentry, Rich Holm, Alan Keith, Connor Puritz, and Phil Anderson.
Saturday's group selfie
The hill is looking about the same. Althought, it was much larger in the past. If you are curious about its history, have a look at Mazon Monday #30. The spoil pile is from a shaft mine operated through part of its history by the Braceville Coal Company. It was their No. 2 mine. They operated it from 1892 - 1900. It was the second most productive of their six mines, producing almost 1.8 million tons of coal. The mine covered about 249 acres. The company was targeting the Colchester coal seam, which sits at a depth of between 103 and 110 feet with a thickness of 3.5 feet.
From the look of the road outside the spoil pile, some of the collectors were very excited to get to the site.
After burning rubber in the road, here's the group of eager fossil hunters rushing to get to the hill...
Of course, we had the famous fossil dump... there were generous contributions from Andrew Young, Ralph Jewell, Marty Houdek, Elizabeth Gentry, Rich Holm, Alan Keith, Connor Puritz, and Phil Anderson. Thanks!
Discussions around the pile
Those orange buckets really glow in the sun!
Concretions!
Nice one, George!
Is that a new Estwing, Jeremy? What's in your hand? A frog?!? Is he helping you dig?
Is there a better way to spend Saturday night after a long day of hunting fossils?... Dinner at the Tully Monster Pub and Grill in Morris!
See you guys again in the spring!
Note: some of these photos came from Ralph Jewell, who has a great thread over on the Fossil Forum. Check it out! Other photos came from Andrew Young, Phil Anderson, Eileen Routson, Jody Gosain, Taleka Robinson, Chad Stevens and others. Thanks!
This is Mazon Monday post #233. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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As you probably know, the Tully Monster is the State Fossil of Illinois. It a real fan favorite. Everyone loves the Tully Monster... did you know there are stuffed Tullys you can buy online?!?
Last week, the Chicago Tribune did a vintage article called "How the Tully monster became Illinois’ official state fossil".
One small event made Francis Tully’s life extraordinary.
Almost 70 years ago, the Texaco pipe fitter and amateur explorer found something inside a rock previously unseen by humans. The rust-colored rock, or nodule, held inside it a small creature that had been hidden away for millions of years.
“When you’re hunting fossils, you’re looking for just anything at all,” Tully told Tribune reporter Peter Gorner in 1987. “The kick is to find something nobody has found before. Then, the idea is to share the things with others. That’s why I seldom have sold any. I trade them off or give ’em away.”
What Tully and geologists long had known is something many Chicagoans don’t — just about 50 miles south of the city is one of the world’s great fossil beds. Mazon Creek, south of Morris, was once home to the Sea of Illinois, part of a warm, shallow saltwater estuary that stretched across much of the Midwest about 90 million years before the first dinosaurs. Its lush trees and swamps were the perfect environment for fossil preservation for the many plants and animals that lived there — especially invertebrates (creatures without backbones). And since part of the area near Braidwood had been strip-mined by coal companies during the early 20th century, giant piles of soft shale provide a gold mine for fossil fanatics.
Tully’s discovery baffled scientists, who eventually christened the creature after the Lockport resident. Tully’s monster was recognized as the official state fossil of Illinois 35 years ago this week, but the designation did not come without hiccups along the way — and, unfortunately, arrived too late for its staunchest advocate to celebrate.
The Tully monster’s discoverer, Francis Tully, at a Field Museum Members’ Night in 1987. (Ron Testa/Field Museum)
“I found two rocks that had cracked open from natural weathering,” Tully told the Tribune about his major discovery near Mazon Creek. “They held something completely different. I knew right away. I’d never seen anything like it. None of the books had it. I’d never seen it in museums or at rock clubs. So I brought it to the Field Museum to see if they could figure out what the devil it was.”
A Tully monster holotype fossil — the fossil that’s used as a “Platonic ideal” — shows the characteristics of the species to which all other specimens are compared. (Paul Mayer and Alex Layng/Field Museum)
When Tully brought the specimen to the Field Museum, its experts confessed they didn’t know what it was.
“We could not even decide which phylum to put it in,” Eugene S. Richardson Jr., then curator of fossil invertebrates, later wrote. “And that was a serious and embarrassing matter.”
A decade later, Richardson decided the creature finally needed a name. In an excerpt published in Nature, Richardson merely Latinized what everyone was calling the thing, anyway: Tullimonstrum gregarium — Tully monster, common.
“I was very pleased,” Tully told the Tribune about the name in 1986. “Darn right.”
Richardson gave the creature the nickname "Mr. Tully's Monster", as he was unsure how to classify it. The nickname stuck, becoming the origin of its name. The animal was new to science as no one had seen anything quite like it. In the Tully's description in 1966, Richardson famously wrote "While this obscure but plentiful animal is being studied, I prefer not to assign it to a phylum." Later, in a paper with Ralph Gordon Johnson, they wrote "There is no compelling reason to assign Tullimonstrum to any of the known phyla. It could be imagined as an aberrant member of one of several phyla but the critical evidence is not available."
A Tully monster graphic shows the size, shape and science of the Tully monster. (Phil Geib/Chicago Tribune)
The so-called monster that once inhabited swamps in Will, Kankakee and Fulton counties was now considered for the state’s official fossil.
“I don’t believe there are a series of fossils of the import to the state like the Tully monster,” said Rep. Helen Satterthwaite ,D-Champaign, who sponsored the bill.
The Tully monster, though mysterious, put Illinois on the map for fossil hunters, Illinois State Museum curator of geology Richard Leary told the Tribune in March 1987.
The Tully monster was first considered a contender for the official state fossil of Illinois in March 1987. (Chicago Tribune)
After an almost two-year delay, Gov. Thompson finally signed legislation making the Tully monster the official state fossil in Illinois.
Here is an article about the desgination. It appeared in Andy Hay's "Creature Corner" and later in an ESCONI book by the same name.
State fossil, prairie grass chosen
Springfield--
The "Tully Monster" became Illinois' official state fossil! This was just one day after the "Big Bluestem" became Illinois' official state prairie grass.
Governor James R. Thompson signed into law both the fossil bill, sponsored by Rep. Larry Wennlund, R-New Lenox, and the prairie grass bill, sponsored by Rep. Tom Ryder, Rerseyville.
The Tully Monster and Big Bluestem are the latest additions to official Illinois symbols, which include the oak, violet cardinal, fluorite, monarch butterfly, white tailed deer and bluegill. Several, including the oak, violet, cardinal and blue- gill, were elected by Illinois school children.
Wennlund said his bill simply declared the Tullimonstrum gregarium to be the official state fossil because it is unique and there would not have been any opposition in a school election.
Amateur collector Francis Tully found the first stone impressions of the 300 million year old sea animal in the late 1950's in the Will-Grundy-Kankakee county area. Wennlund said it was a foot long, and had a soft body and ate meat.
The Big Bluestem, one of several prairie grasses that made Illinois soil rich, was still growing to heights of eight feet in the early 1800's. It had a three-branched seed head that gave it a nickname of turkeyfoot grass.
The Big Bluestem won its designation by beating Indiangrass, Prairie Dropseed and Little Bluestem in a 4316 vote contest at 50 grade schools.
(NOTE: Francis Tully was an ESCONI member.)
Recently, there have been attempts to classify the Tully Monster. The latest, by McCoy et al in 2016, again in 2016 by Clements et al, and by McCoy et al again in 2020, classify T. gregarium as a jawless fish similar to a lamprey or hagfish. If that theory is correct, the Tully Monster will fill in a gap in the evolutionary history of early vertebrates. There has been some disagreement (Sallan in 2017), although that study denies the vertebrate ancestry without proposing a viable alternative.
Some actual Tullys found by of Mr. Tully
Thanks go out to Ralph Jewell for some of the photos in this post. The Tully Monster photos come from slides he obtained from Walter Leitz. Walter and his wife Rita were a long time ESCONI collectors, who very generously contributed to The Mazon Creek Project, the science of Mazon Creek, and Mazon Creek fossil collecting in general.
This is the "Fossil Friday" post #229. 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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A beautifully preserved Tullymonstrum gregarium is our Fossil Friday for this week. T. gregarium was designated as the the State Fossil of Illinois in 1989. It's named for Francis Tully, an amateur collector who found his first specimen during the summer of 1955. He brought a few specimens to the Field Museum to show Eugene Richardson, Jr., who didn't know what it was. Richardson referred to it as "Mr. Tully's Monster". The name stuck, and when Richardson formally described the animal in 1966, he named it Tullymonstrum gregarium.
The Tully monster’s discoverer, Francis Tully, at a Field Museum Members’ Night in 1987. (Ron Testa/Field Museum)
This stunning fossil was recently acquired by ESCONI member Jeremy Zimmerman. It has some interesting 3-dimensional preservation. Thanks for sharing, Jeremy!
This is Mazon Monday post #232. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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On September 27th, 1959, ESCONI sponsored the Annual Autumn Braidwood Field Trip. These trips were held each year many times with the different Chicago clubs rotating as hosts. John and Lucy McLuckie were on hand every year. Sometimes, the particpants gathered at their house after a day of collecting on the spoil piles.
The announcement appeared in the September newsletter and was written by Dick Ade, who was Field Trip Chairman at the time.
We have photos from some of these field trips in the ESCONI archives. These old photos feature interesting cars and bare spoil pile hills. The spoil piles were relatively fresh as strip mining started in the 1920s and some were active until the mid-1970s.
Meeting at a gas station in Braidwood, IL
Braidwood area in 1959
Check out those cars!
Visiting with members of other clubs
Jay Farr's car. Jay was the second Chairman of ESCONI.
Allaways and Witmers... most of those people are not dressed for fossil hunting as we know it! Note the large spoil pile in the background.
Howard and Olive Knight
Jay Farr, Carl Lerstrom, and unknown member
Dick Ade on the table with John McLuckie, Howard Knight, and others
Lucy McLuckie, Edith Schwendemann, and others
Lunch time
More spoil piles... wouldn't you love to walk them?!?
Climbing the piles...
This is the "Fossil Friday" post #228. 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's Fossil Friday is a beautiful Annularia inflata (see Mazon Monday #60) from the Kodat/Benson farm, which was declared a Nationat Historic Landmark in 1997. This fossil was collected in 2023. It opened via freeze/thaw. Enjoy!
This is Mazon Monday post #231. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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Pecopteris strongii is a rare fossil fern known only from the Mazon Creek Fossil Flora. It was named for early Mazon Creek collector Samuel Strong by Leo Lesquereux in 1870. Strong was a prolific collector, who later sold most of his collection to Yale. Some specimens were named Pecopteris resupinata, however they were later identified to be immature Pecopteris strongii. Lesquereux was a swiss-born bryologist and a pioneer of American paleobotany. He is widely credited with naming the Mazon Creek fossil deposit, when he referred to the Mazon River as a creek in his 1870 publication "Report on the Fossil Plants of Illinois". Lesquereux also worked extensively with the Florissant fossil plants.
Lesquereux in 1864
Lesquereux's description can be found on George's Basement.
PECOPTERIS STRONGII, Lesqx., Plate XXXIX, Figs. 14-15a.
Frond bipinnate; pinnae oblong, broader in the middle, gradually lanceolate to the apex; pinnules alternate, in right angle to a narrow rachis, disconnected, even distant in the lower part of the pinnce, somewhat enlarged and rounded to the point of attachment, narrower in the middle, obtusely acuminate; medial nerve distinct in the sterile branches; veins obsolete; fructifications in rows of large round sori, close to each border.
The relation of this fine species was, when first described, somewhat doubtful, on account of the peculiar disposition and form of the pinnules, which give to the pinna the appearance of a simply divided frond. I have seen, later, large specimens representing primary pinnae forty to fifty centimeters long, linear-lanceolate, with secondary divisions alternate or opposite, long, the lowest sixteen centimeters or more. These branches, with a thin smooth, flexuous rachis ascending up parallel to the main stem, or reflexed, and curved in various directions, have their pinnules of the same character as those described and figured upon the plate, variable in length from seven to fourteen millimeters or less according to their place. As in the former species the leaflets become slightly, minutely lobate toward the base of the pinnae, in their transition from pinnules to branches of a second order. In these specimens the rachis more distinctly exposed is smooth, not punctulate, the pinnules have a thick epidermis, but the veins simple or forking once and obliquely inclined to the borders are sometimes discernible. The fructifications have the same disposition upon all the fragments, the medial nerve of the fertile pinnules being always as if erased and the space between the sori flat.
The only relation I find to this fern is Cyatheites (Pecopteris) pulcher, Heer, Fl. foss. Helv., IV, p. 29, Pl. VIII, f. 7. The specimens not figured, on which is remarked above, have the pinnae alternate or opposite, as in the European plant; the rachis however is not articulate or noduse at the joints of the secondary branches as figured by Heer. But this is apparently a mere casual deformation. It is not mentioned by the author in the description. Heer also describes the pinnules as subpetiolate, but says that he has seen traces of a petiole only in a few or in one pair of them. Except this all the characters are alike.
Habitat—Roof shale of the coal of Morris; nodules of Mazon Creek; not seen elsewhere.
Regular readers might remember "Postcards from Mazon Creek", which was Mazon Monday #213. In that post, a couple of photos of fossil ferns from the McLuckie collection were featured in postcards. One of those contained a breathtaking specimen of Pecopteris strongii, which currently resides at the Smithsonian.
The McLuckie postcard
Photo from the Smithsonian collection
P. strongii appears on page 128 of Jack Wittry's "A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek". There are some very nice specimen photos.
Pecopteris strongii Lesquereux, 1870
1870. Pecopteris strongii Lesquereux: p. 399, pl. 13, figs. 7-9
1879-80. Pecopteris strongii Lesquereux: p. 236, pl. 39, figs. 14, 15
1889. Pecopteris resupinata Lesquereux; Lesley: p. 608
1959. Pecopteris potoniei Nemejc; Remy and Remy: p. 237, pl. 189
1963. Pecopteris sp. Langford: p. 209, figs. 815-817
2009. Pecopteris potoniei Nemejc; Bartel: p. 3/53, figs. 106-108DESCRIPTION: The penultimate pinna is widest above the middle and contracts to an acuminate apex. The ultimate pinna is oblique, linear-lanceolate, and terminates in a small, blunt lobe. The rachis is broad, unmarked, or may display a channel down the middle. The pinnules are very distant, alternate, slightly oblique, oblong, up to six times longer than wide, occasionally appear to be slightly constricted in the middle, rounded at the tip, and expanded at the base where they may lightly touch. They are more confluent when small. The midvein is heavy. deeply immersed in the thick lamina, well marked by a groove, and extends to the tip. The lateral veins are dis- tant, oblique, and fork once near the middle. The upper veinlet meets the margin at a 45° angle. Usually, the vena- tion is obscured in the thick lamina. Pecopteris strongii produces a polymorph (see Figs. 6 through 9) described by Lesquereux under Pecopteris resupinata. It represents the immature and poorly developing ultimate pinnae of P. strongii. The sori have an asterothecoid appearance with 4 or 5 sporangia.
REMARKS: Pecopteris strongii is rare. All known examples have come from the Mazon Creek area, though a near identical form was described later by Nemejc (1940) from the lower Permian in Germany under the name Pecopteris potoniei.
Specimens
From Lesquereux. 14, 15, and 15a.
FMNH PP1215
FMNH PP26950
FMNH PP52920
This is the "Fossil Friday" post #227. 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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It's Friday and that means it's time for another Fossil Friday! Today, we have another nice Mazon Creek shrimp. This fine specimen is Belotelson magister (see Mazon Monday #13), which is the most common shrimp found in Pit 11. B. magister was described by Alpheus Spring Packard in 1886. Packard was an entomologist and paleontologist who described over 500 new animal species.
This beautuful fossil photos were sent in by ESCONI member Greg Nagle. He's a long time fossil collector. I have had the pleasure of collecting with him and his friend John Zenino on a few occasions at Braceville and most recently at the Napolean Quarry in Napoleon, IN, where we did really well hunting cystoids. Thanks for sharing, Greg!
This is Mazon Monday post #230. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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Over the years, we've shared numerous articles about Jim and Sylvia Konecny, highlighting their significant contributions to ESCONI. Jim served as ESCONI's president in 1966 and 1967, but both he and Sylvia were involved in much more. They played key roles in ESCONI's displays at the first North American Paleontological Conference (NAPC) in 1969. Even after relocating to Prescott, AZ in 1974, they continued to collaborate on articles for the ESCONI newsletter and related magazines. In their later years, they made a lasting impact by donating their extensive fossil collection to advance science. Most of their collection now resides in the Field Museum, providing valuable insights into the paleontology of Mazon Creek.
From left to right, Lucy McLuckie, Sylvia Konecny, Tony Sobolik, and Jim Konecny. Here they are presenting an award to Lucy for John McLuckie's contributions to the study of Mazon Creek fossils.
The following article appeared in the September/October 1969 edition of Earth Science Magazine.
Personal Notes on the
Mazon Creek Area of Northern Illinois
By JAMES E. and SYLVIA KONECNY
Although much has been written about this region, its history as a producer of coal and later of fossil plants and animals is not well known. We have attempted to close this gap by providing historical and social data on this area that has produced and is still producing such a wealth of fossil material. Mazon Creek fossils are known throughout the world.
Living only a 40-minute drive from the area, we have been collecting there extensively over a period of 10 years. The general limits of the area fall within a triangle formed by the towns of Morris, Wilmington and Gardner. The towns best known to most col- lectors, Braidwood and Coal City, lie within this triangle. Mazon Creek also lies within the triangle.
Coal mining operations were started in the area shortly after the Civil War, this being the oldest coal producing district in Illinois. Strangely enough, the discovery of coal was by accident, A farmer digging for a well became frustrated at not finding water at the normal level and kept digging until he reached a coal seam.
On this monument in Diamond, Illinois, is en- graved "Sacred to the memory of our deceased brothers who lost their lives by the flooding of the Diamond mine, February 16, 1883." The victims' names appear on the bronze plaque.
The first mines were shaft mines whose spoil heaps still dot the land- scape like tiny volcanoes. These underground mines were designated by names such as Diamond, Eureka and Eileen. The opening of mines brought an influx of immigrants to this area, starting with the Scotch, English, Italians, and finally Bohemians from the large coal districts in Czechoslovakia. The Bohemians probably composed the largest ethnic colony and even now have their own Bohemian National Cemetery on the eastern out- skirts of Braidwood.
We are all familiar with the numer- ous disasters of underground mines and this area was not spared such a disaster. On February 16, 1883, the Diamond Mine was flooded. The number of known victims was 74 but only 28 bodies were recovered. On the north side of Illinois Route 113, in the town of Diamond, there stands a monument erected to the memory of the victims of this disaster.
With the advent of larger machinery it was found that a new method, strip mining, was more economical than underground mining when a coal seam was not over 100 ft. in depth. This method involves using a large shovel or drag line to strip the overburden, over a large area, down to the coal seam. Smaller shovels and bulldozers then remove the coal and load it onto trucks which are driven directly into the pit. A "coal tipple" is located on the premises where the coal is washed and sorted. Stripping in this area was begun in 1927. At the present time it is employed at one location in the triangle, the mines of the Peabody Coal Company near Essex. The strip mines are designated by pit numbers. such as Pit 1, Pit 2, Pit 3, etc., the lone exception being the Cooper Pit. Today Illinois ranks as the fourth largest coal producing state.
The remarkably preserved Mazon Creek fossils, which are enclosed in nodules or concretions, are found in the shale lying directly above the coal seam. This formation is known as the Francis Creek Shale. The nodules are spheroidal-shaped bodies which were formed by iron compounds being de posited within the shale surrounding a foreign object, namely a plant or animal. Theoretically, this foreign object creates a plane of weakness within the nodule. When the nodule is placed on edge and struck a sharp blow with a hammer, it should split open along this plane and reveal the plant or animal within.
According to reliable sources the first collecting of these nodules was done at Mazon Creek in 1857. A few were later collected in the spoil heaps of the underground mines; however, the greatest number of specimens have been found in the spoil heaps of the strip mines.
Top. Left: Spoil heap from early shaft mine resembles a volcanic cone. Right: Spoil heaps from strip mining. Pit 11. Center. Left: Coal tipple at Pit 11. Here coal is washed and sorted. Right: Dragline at Pit 11 stripping the overburden. Note size camparison with truck at far left. Bottom: Left: Collecting right in Mazon Creek itself appealed to Terry and Fran Wolff and Sylvia Konecny on a hot summer day. Right: Recommended method of splitting nodules.
The first collector at the Mazon Creek beds was Joseph Even. Ironically, all of his specimens were sent to Berlin, Germany. They did, how ever, create international interest in this locality. Some of the other early collectors were J. C. Carr, L. E. Daniels, P. A. Armstrong, F. T. Bliss, John Bronson and Ralph Lacoe. The last, a wealthy businessman from Pennsylvania, hired collectors and also bought specimens from casual collectors. His collection was donated to the U. S. National Museum and possibly created the greatest impact in making the Mazon Creek localities famous, since it was from this collection that numerous monographs were published.
About the time that the nodules. from underground mining and Mazon Creek were becoming scarce, strip mining operations began nearby. It was found that the weathered spoil banks contained the same type of con- cretions. A new generation of collectors appeared on the scene. Note worthy among these were John and Lucy McLuckie, Jerry Herdina, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Enrietta and George Langford. The McLuckie and Herdina collections have been extensively studied by professionals from numerous institutions. Almost the entire Enrietta collection has been donated to scientific institutions. George Langford is probably the best known of this latter group of collectors. He also donated his collection to scientific in stitutions. After many years as an amateur, he became Curator of Fossil Plants at the Field Museum of Natural History. His two published volumes, though uncritical, are probably the most comprehensive works written on Mazon Creek fossils. We have been fortunate enough to personally meet all of the latter group. It has been most interesting to hear them reminisce about their varied adventures and experiences.
Now the collecting field has ex- panded and a new generation is on the scene. For fear of inadvertently eliminating someone, we will not try to name these collectors. Most of them belong to one of the numerous clubs of the Chicagoland area. Like the preceding generations of amateurs, the present group is also cooperating with the professionals. A number of them already have new species named after them.
The Mazon Creek area comprises numerous collecting locations-some adjacent to each other, others quite isolated. There are also numerous spoil banks which for some strange reason are barren of fossils. Besides two col- lecting localities on Mazon Creek itself, there are about a dozen other locations in the "fertile triangle." Local collectors have pet names for many of these such as Chowder Flats, Goldblatt's and Piano Hill.
Collecting the nodules is not the easiest thing to do since many hills have to be climbed and only one in ten nodules is good enough to take home. In the summer an added inconvenience is the heat. In his diary George Langford records temperatures of 120° in the gullies between the light grey shale hills. Only the diehard collector will spend weekend after weekend in these hills.
In all but one of the collecting locations the plant fossils found outnumber the animal fossils by 100 to 1. From these locations about 500 plant species and 200 animal species have been described. The one locality which is the exception to the rule was discovered about 10 years ago. This is Pit 11 which is located near Essex, Illinois. Here the animals are as common as the plants and in a much better state of preservation.
Also noteworthy is the fact that the fauna at Pit 11 is marine-dominated whereas the fauna from the other locations is mostly terrestrial. Since the Field Museum of Natural History considers these as two distinct faunal assemblages, their paleontologists have given each its own name for convenience of reference. The fauna from Pit 11 is known as the "Essex fauna" and the fauna from the other Mazon Creek locations as the "Braidwood fauna." Approximately 150 species of animals have been discovered at Pit 11, of which about 100 are new species. This indicates that Pit 11 was a different ecological environment than the other localities. Recognizing this location to be as important as, if not more important than, the Burgess Shale of British Columbia and the Solenhofen Limestone of Germany, the Field Museum, in 1966, submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation for support of a special research project.
- Helminthochitan concinnus (chiton)
- Asterophyllites equisetiformis (foliage of Calamites, forerunner of the modern horsetail).
- 3. Alethopteris serli (fern-like seed plant).
- 4. Neuropteris gigantea (fern-like seed plant).
- 5. Euphoberia armigera (millipede).
- 6. Orthotarbus robustus (spider).
The object of the Field Museum project is to (1) describe new species and attempt to determine the zoolog- ical affinities of the unusual elements, (2) reconstruct the paleoecological setting of the marine fauna, (3) determine the relative stratigraphic position of the Mazon Creek localities, (4) to compare the paleoecological features of the Braidwood and Essex faunas, and (5) evaluate the overall evolutionary significance of the Mazon Creek faunas.
The Field Museum will be host to the North American Paleontological Convention on September 5, 6 and 7 of this year. Great emphasis will be placed on the Mazon Creek Faunal Research Project. Many amateur collectors who have been assisting the Museum in this work will have specimens on display at this time.
Lest collectors start a "gold rush" to the Mazon Creek area in anticipation of a fossil bonanza, we must state that all of the locations mentioned are on private property and special permission must be obtained to enter the premises. The majority of the old strip mines are now owned by local sportsmen's clubs and only members and their guests are allowed free use of them.
On many weekends this area has been a second home for our entire family and has produced numerous memorable experiences. Although we have several thousand Mazon Creek fossils the lure of a new find keeps us going back to "them thar hills." As long as there are nodules to be found we will be there.
Top. The John McLuckie home in Coal City, Illinois. Many eminent professional paleontologists and hundreds of amateurs have been welcomed here. Center. George Langford, at age 87, accepts the first copy of his second book on Mazon Creek fossils, "The Wilmington Coal Fauna and Additions to the Wilmington Coal Flora," in June 1963. At left, Anton Sobolik, 1963 president of the Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois: at right, the senior author, chairman of Esconi Associates, publishers of the book. Bottom. The late John McLuckie with some of his Mazon Creek specimens. Mr. McLuckie was a machine operator at the strip mines for a number of years.
This is the "Fossil Friday" post #226. 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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Drawing from George Langford Sr.
For this week's installment of Fossil Friday, we have a sweet little Acanthotelson stimpsoni (Mazon Monday #52). A. stimpsoni was a syncarid shrimp. It was named for William Stimpson. Stimpson worked at the Smithsonian Institution and was later the director of the Chicago Academy of Sciences.
This beautiful little guy was found in Pit 11 by George Witaszek and Dan Quasney. They collect together and each found a half on different trips to Pit 11 earlier this year. They've both contributed to Fossil Friday in the past. Who could forget George's gorgeous Trigonocarpus sp. (Fossil Friday #62), his amazing Pecopteris fontainei (Fossil Friday #202), and the finely detailed Diplazites unita (Fossil Friday #50). Dan' sent us a beautiful Rhabdoderma exiguum (Fossil Friday #210) earlier this spring. Thanks for the contribution, guys! We hope your luck keeps up!
This is Mazon Monday post #229. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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The hills of Pit 11 have changed quite a bit over the years. Pit 11 was and active mine until 1974, so these photos are from just two years afterwards. Notice the lack of vegetation! If you've been there anytime recently, you know how much different it looks today... especially in later summer.
These photos come from Kathy Dedina who was president of ESCONI in the late 1990s. She took some great photos of ESCONI events. These photos date to September 1976.
This is the "Fossil Friday" post #225. 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 very colorful Annularia inflata from the Mazon River. Annularia is some of the foliage from Calamites. It was described by Leo Lesquereux in 1870. For more information, see Mazon Monday #60.
This beautiful specimen was collected from the Mazon River by Jeremy Zimmerman. Thanks for sharing, Jeremy!
Braceville Field Trip Rules
Sept 2024
The ESCONI field trips to Braceville for Mazon Creek fossils are set for Sept 7 and 8, 2024 from 9 AM to 3 PM. You can attend one or the other, but not both days. There is an attendance limit of 50 people each day.
You must register to go on this trip. See rule 6 below for instructions. This is the only way to register.
If you are sick, have any symptoms of Covid-19 or have recently tested positive, DO NOT COME.
Families are welcome, but the minimum age is 5 years old. Children must be supervised at all times by their parent or guardian. Registration ends at midnight Sept 3rd.
You and everyone in your party must be members of ESCONI. No membership dues will be accepted at the field trip site. Have your membership status resolved before the trip, no later than September 3rd. You can pay dues by mailing a check, or with a credit card using the PayPal link on the ESCONI website.
You will be required to check-in at the collecting site. By attending, you agree to follow the ESCONI Code of Ethics and Conduct (available on the ESCONI website) and agree to the conditions set forth in the ESCONI Accident Waiver and Release of Liability Form (sent by email to those that register). You don’t need to print it out, just know what you’re agreeing to.
You’re going to be digging in clay and rocks – dress accordingly! Boots and gloves are strongly recommended. No open-toed shoes or soft climbing shoes. Hard hats are not required. You may want to bring a shovel, pickaxe, trowel, or hammer. Use only a rock hammer, not a claw hammer or roofing hammer. If you decide to hammer on something, use eye protection. There may also be insects and poison ivy. Bring a bucket to carry your fossils in. The collecting site is an old spoil pile on private property. There may be old rusty tools or other iron pieces embedded in the pile. Sliding down the hill could be very painful.
The top of the pile is unstable and not safe to stand on. Do not go above the flags/caution tape markers. Anyone found above the markers will be asked to leave and may not be allowed to sign up for future field trips.
Sign up for the trip by sending me (Dave) an email with the names of all members in your group, and the day you are attending. I will acknowledge by return email within 24 hours. If you don’t hear from me in that time, send it again! I will be out of town Aug 9 and 10 so my response may be delayed. My email is [email protected]
If the trip is full I will keep a waiting list in case there are cancellations. If you are signed up and can’t make it, please let me know.
Meet at 9 AM at the entrance to the collecting site on S Berta Road, just east of the intersection with Division St (Braceville IL). A nearby landmark for driving directions is the Braceville Gardner Cemetery, 7295 East Braceville Road, Braceville. I can send a small map to anyone that needs it.
ESCONI will be holding the 2024 Mazon Creek Fossil Day on October 12th, 2024 from 10 AM to 3 PM at the Coal City Public Library. Please come out and bring your Mazon Creek fossils. There will displays of Mazon Creek fossils and knowledgeable people who can identify your fossils.
Coal City Public Library
85 N. Garfield St.
Coal City, IL
Main Meeting RoomLecture on Mazon Creek Fossils 1 PM
Come on out for another great and informative day!
This is Mazon Monday post #228. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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Eubleptus danielsi, reconstruction by Carpenter (1983). Scale bar = 10 mm. Abbreviations: a, antenna; ab, abdo- men; c, cerci; f, foreleg; fw, forewing; h, head; hw, hind wing; p, prothorax.
Eubleptus danielsi belongs to the Palaeodictyoptera an extinct order of medium-sized to very large, primitive Palaeozoic paleopterous insects. Palaeodictyoptera give many clues to the evolution of wings in insects. E. danielsi was described by Anton Handlirsch in 1906. Handlirsch (1865 - 1935) was an Austrian entomologist, who worked extensively on many insect orders. He did significant work studying of fossil insects. Handlirsch described E. danielsi in "Revision of American Paleozoic insects. Proceedings of the United States National Museum".
E. danielsi was named for L.E. Daniels a significant collecting from Mazon, IL in the late 1800s (see Mazon Monday #184). Daniels has six Mazon Creek animals named for him, including a spider, a scorpion, and four insects. Fossilworks has references to some of the specimens he contributed to UMMP and USNM.
In 1911, Handlirsch described Athymodictya parva in "New Paleozoic insects from the vicinity of Mazon Creek, Illinois, American Journal of Science, Series 4 31, 297-326", which was later classified as a synonym of E. danielsi by Frank M. Carpenter in 1983.
Anton Handlirsch
Eubleptus danielsi appears on the cover of Jack Wittry's "The Mazon Creek Fossil Fauna". Unfortunately, there is no discussion of the animal. However, it is mentioned on pages 187 and 188 of the "Richardson's Guide to the Fossil Fauna of Mazon Creek".
The family Eubleptidae, known only from Mazon Creek beds, includes a single species at present, Eubleptus danielsi Handlirsch (1906). This is one of the smallest members of the order Palaeodictyoptera, with a wing length of only 12.7 mm (0.5 in.) (Figures 14A.11, 14A.12). It is also one of the best known members of the Mazon Creek insect fauna, being represented by 17 specimens, of which all but two are from Pit 11 Carpenter (1983). The antennae and cerci are very long and slender. The fore and hind wings have a distinct line of four maculations along the anterior margins.
Specimens
FMNH PE 40223 (Paul Harris specimen from Pit 11)
FMNH PE 39355
ESCONI member from the Mazon River
Athymodictya parva is a synonym of Eubleptus danielsi as determined by Frank M. Carpenter in 1983 (YPM IP 000018). Collected by Samuel Strong in the mid 1800s.
This is the "Fossil Friday" post #224. 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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Alethopteris serlii is always a favorite. They are usually distinctive fossils, quite often preserved in 3-D. A. serlii was a seed fern from the Carboniferous Period. It is fairly common found in the Mazon Creek fossil deposits. It was named by Alexandre Brongniart (1770 - 1847) in 1836. For more information see Mazon Monday #57.
This particular specimen was collected in Pit 11 quite a few years ago.
This is Mazon Monday post #227. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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The poem below is about Essexella asherae, the iconic Mazon Creek cnidarian (see Mazon Monday #14). E. Asherae was named for Helen Asher (see Fossil Friday #158) by Merrill W. Foster in 1979 in "Soft-bodied coelenterates in the Pennsylvanian of Illinois". Unfortunately, Merrill passed away in July of 2022.
There was a recent paper, "The Mazon Creek Cnidarian Essexella: The World Turned Upside Down"", which reclassifies E. asherae as a sea anemone. Roy Plotnick did a great presentation for the Mazon Creek Open House in 2022.
Rob Sula wrote this poem back in 2002. Rob was 1st Vice-President of ESCONI from 2008-2014.
ODE TO A BLOB
Oh, lowly blob,
Whose grave I did not rob.
On the ground you sit
So round and nicely split.
Were you but a few.
I'd bend to pick up you.
But alas, you're not so rare.
And although I wish I'd care,
I left you lying there.
Rob Sula (2002)
A "Creature Corner" article appeared in the May 1988 edition of the ESCONI newsletter and surprisingly was entitled "The Blob". It was written by Andy Hay.
The Blob (Jellyflsh)
Many are the creatures first discovered In Mazon Creek area concretions, Many are eagerly hunted. Many are truly one-of-a-kind specimens. Many are rare In the fossil record, much sought after by a small army of collectors.
NOT THE BLOB!
What Is this fossil creature that evokes such disdain among concretion hunters? It is a Jellyfish: but being a jellyfish Is not the reason that experienced fossil collectors were and are loath to take the concretion home. Picture yourself on the spoil heaps of Pit 11, prior to their being leveled. Before you rise the slopes - three stories high - a mile long with huge furrows In the Earth. You notice that collectors climb over and past some hills that are virtually paved with Iron slderite concretions. This Is what you have come here to collect. Bucket after bucket Is filled -taken home -and split. All you have are BLOBS! Therein lies the answer -super abundance. How many blobs can a person collect and save?
Jellyfish Blobs as seen on Pit 11 concretions appear as a circular or extended oval color difference on the split concretion. Many have one end slightly flattened and, occasionally, tentacles are seen. The blob may be slightly above the plane of the split concretion. When first brought to scientific attention, some workers considered the blob to be "an artifact of preservation", a pseudo fossil. Literally thousands of blobs with identical configurations doomed that assessment. The warm tropical seas of that period much have been as ideal a habitat for jellyfish as are the tropical seas of today.
Jellyfish are members of the Phylum Coelenterata. Blobs/jellyfish from Pit 11 are placed in the genera Essexella and Reticulomedusa. Both are animals of the Essex fauna, Francis Creek Shale, Carbondale Formation, Middle Pennsylvanian in age.
Strip mines near Peoria, Illinois that mined coal from that same unit have concretions bearing blobs in their spoil heaps. Coelentrate-like fossils have been discovered among the Precambrian Ediacaran fauna of southern Australia and the Cambrian Burgess shale fauna of western Canada.
Andrew A. Hay
This is the "Fossil Friday" post #223. 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 nice little syncarid shrimp called Acanthotelson stimpsoni. It's one of the most common shrimp found amongst the Braidwood fauna of Mazon Creek. A. stimpsoni was described in 1865 by F.B. Meek and A. H. Worthen. Fielding Bradford Meek and Amos Henry Worthen, 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. A. stimpsoni was named for an early contributor to American science - William Stimpson. Stimpson was a contemporary of Meek and Worthen. He worked at the Smithsonian Institution and was later the director of the Chicago Academy of Sciences.
This sweet little specimen was found earlier this year in Pit 11 by Caden McDonald. You might remember is beautiful Annularia sphenophylloides, which was featured in Fossil Friday #166. Thanks for sharing, Caden!
This is Mazon Monday post #226. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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In January 1975 edition of the Field Museum Bulletin, there was a small blurb about the donation of a "Huge Coal Age Fossil Collection" to the Field Museum. It was vastly understated. Jerry Herdina (1905-1974) was a retired construction engineer with a love for Mazon Creek fossils. Jerry was a long time member of the Field Museum. He amassed his collection between 1928 and 1973. His collection included fossil insects, spiders, amphibians, shrimp, and scorpions... all the good stuff! A cephalopod (yes, a cephalopod!) and a very nice insect have been named for him.
Huge Coal Age Fossil Collection Donated by Museum Member
An important collection of thousands of coal age fossils taken from strip mines in Will, Grundy, and Kankakee counties has been given to the Museum's Department of Geology by a long-term Museum member, Jerry Herdina of Berwyn.
Herdina, a retired construction engineer for whom geology is a hobby, collected the specimens between 1928 and 1973. Included are fossil insects, spiders, amphibians, shrimps, jellyfish, scorpions, and many others. Herdina ovalis (a small, short-winged insect) and Paleocadmus herdinae (a cephalopod) have been named for Herdina.
Jerry's name (and fossils!) appear in quite a few papers describing Mazon Creek animals. Here, he is in a 1963 Fieldiana Mazon Creek Eurypterid paper. He contributed 18 Mazon Creek Eurypterids to the study!
This rare eurypterid was previously known from the holotype and seven specimens (Kjellesvig-Waering, 1948, p. 17). To this number can be added data from twenty-three specimens. Eighteen of these specimens were collected during ten years of intensive search by Jerry Herdina, of Berwyn, Illinois, and form part of his extensive collection. It includes the largest carapace known (see fig. 44).
Fig. 44. Carapace of Adelophthalmus mazonensis (Meek and Worthen) from the Herdina collection (H-6); × 1.3. This is the largest specimen that has been found.
One of Jerry's finest specimens is named Herdina mirificus, a short-winged insect found in Pit 11. The photo below is from the "Richardson's Guide to the Fossil Fauna of Mazon Creek".
Eugene Richardson, Jr, Curator of Fossil Invertebrates from 1946 until 1983, described Herdina mirificus with Frank Carpenter in the 1971 paper "Additional Insects in Pennsylvanian Concretions From Illinois" in the journal Psyche.
The ironstone nodules from the Francis Creek Shale (Middle Pennsylvanian) of Illinois continue to yield many interesting and significant insects. The specimens described in this paper were obtained in former mine pits in Grundy, Will and Kankakee Counties, and have been made available to us by the following collectors, who have been unusually successful in finding insects: Mr. Jerry Herdina, Berwyn, Illinois; Mr. Joseph Makowski, Chicago; Helen and Ted Piecko, Chicago; Mr. Paul Tidd, Mendota, Illinois; and Mr. and Mrs. Francis Wolff, Park Forest, Illinois. We are most grateful to them for their cooperation in loaning their specimens to us for study and their patience in waiting for the results. Special thanks are extended to Mr. Jerry Herdina and to Helen and Ted Piecko for allowing us to photograph and to make a thorough examination of all the insects in their collections. Subsequent papers in this series will deal with additional specimens which they and other local collectors have found.
Richardson wrote a very nice memorial article for Jerry in the March 1975 edition of the Field Museum Bulletin.
JERRY HERDINA (1905-1974)
by Eugene S. Richardson, Jr.
For years-ever since 1928, when the first strip mines were opened for coal in Will and Grundy counties, Illinois- collectors of the Coal Age fossils thrown up in the spoil heaps have observed a tall, slim figure strolling alone across the tortured landscape. Occasionally he would stoop and pick up a red, hamburger-shaped ironstone concretion and stow it in his collecting bag. This was Jerry Herdina, dean of the Chicago- area fossil collectors. Jerry was a "loner," usually collecting by himself, or with his niece and her husband, the Lambert Schriners. But many other collectors have pleasant recollections of a chance meeting in the hills and a subsequent conversation about fossils.
Jerry, a lifelong friend of the Museum, died on November 25, 1974, two months short of his seventieth birthday. One of his last acts was to give his entire collection of fossils to the Museum. It is a collection already well known to scholars in this country and Europe. All but a few hundred of the 14,191 specimens. are Pennsylvanian fossils from the strip mines, an area of particular research interest to the Museum.
I frequently borrowed specimens from Jerry for study. In a letter to me in April, 1958, he said, "I hope that this is only the first of many loans of specimens. We hope to get out in the field soon and do some more intensive hunting. It is our ambition to build up a collection of which we may be proud." In this, Jerry and the Schriners succeeded notably. And now that the collection is housed here, it is one of which the Museum is proud.
His parents were Joseph Hrdina, a cabinetmaker, and Marie Benes, his wife, who came to Chicago directly from Bohemia early in this century. They lived first at 25th and Whipple, where Jerry was born on Jan. 25, 1905. In a few years, the family moved to a large frame house on 21st Place near Karlov, in the same neighborhood. Jerry continued to live there for about fifty years, long after the death of his parents, and and it was there that I first saw his collection, in 1955. As a boy, Jerry walked a few blocks to the Daniel J. Corkery Grade School, and later to the Carter H. Harrison High School. In one of his school- books, a Spanish grammar, his name is still spelled Hrdina, the correct Bohemian form; he was in his early teens when his father. added the vowel as a concession to neighbors who expected one.
In his formative years, Jerry's interests were broad, embracing many aspects of nature. This interest brought him often to the Museum, and later to the Aquarium and Planetarium. He had a speaking knowledge of Spanish and Czech, and a scholar's interest in the local history of Illinois and Utah. Upon graduation from the University of Illinois at Urbana shortly before the depression, he went to work for the Ryerson Steel Company in Chicago as an engineer. The steelwork for many bridges and tall buildings in the Chicago area, including that for Marina City, was fabricated from his calculations. Jerry never married, and devoted his off-hours to the meticulous care of his house and garden, to accumulating a notable reference library, and most particularly to collecting fossils in the strip mines. It was his quiet boast, too, that he had attended every Members' Night at Field Museum.
In 1969 Jerry moved to Berwyn, and it is the immaculate basement of the yellow-brick two-flat that is particularly remembered by paleontologists from Chicago, Harvard, Cal Tech, and European universities. The specimens were all in uniform white pasteboard boxes on steel shelves, arranged by species and locality. It was easy to find them.
Such a large and carefully assembled collection naturally included some unique specimens. In the slow grinding of the mills of science, some of these have been put on record. Two of them, important species new to science, were named for Jerry Herdina during his lifetime. Herdina mirificus, a short-winged insect; and Paleocadmus herdinae, a nautilus-like creature, embody his name in theirs in acknowledgement of the significance of his collection.
His name also appears on the map of the United States. For years, Jerry spent his annual vacation in southern Utah, prowling about the country that has now become Arches and Capitol Reef national monuments, and Canyonlands National Park. He wandered far from the established trails, charting the way to wonders unknown even to the rangers, and recorded their unspoiled beauty in hundreds of sharp, brilliant, and impeccably composed color slides. Today, a portion of Arches. National Monument is marked "Herdina Park" on the National Park Service map in tribute to his volunteer trailblazing.
After Jerry's death, his sister, Mrs. Helen Poncar, gave the Museum, in his memory, all of his books and color slides. Many of the books have found a place in the general library, but most significantly a large number form the nucleus of a new library in the Museum's Department of Education. The 3,539 color slides, all carefully numbered and catalogued, will also be maintained in Education as a valued resource for programs in ecology, geology, and paleontology.
Jerry's many friends on the Museum staff will long remember his friendly interest in their work, and his books, pictures, and fossils will long continue to be actively used, as he meant they should be.
This is the "Fossil Friday" post #222. 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 Macroneuropteris scheuchzerii from the Mazon River at the Kodat Farm locality. M. scheuchzeri is extremely common is some localities, such as the Mazon River in Morris. It was named for Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, a Swiss physician and natural scientist in the 1700's. The genus was changed from Neuropteris to Macroneuropteris in 1977 after extensive studies of European examples showed differences from Neuropteris in the frond architecture and the cuticle. For more information, see Mazon Monday #39.
This beautiful specimen has insect damage, which is not uncommon in seed fern pinnules from Mazon Creek. We received these photos from Marie Angkuw, who collected this fossil in the summer of 2023. Thanks, Marie!
