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This is the preview post #27 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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A beautiful Leonapis trilobite will be auctioned on Saturday. These trilobites were found worldwide in the Devonian.
This is the preview post #26 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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This large Galena crystal will be auctioned off on Sunday. Come check it out!
This is the preview post #25 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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A gorgeous Spiropteris from Mazon Creek is our next preview specimen. This is a fairly large fiddlehead.
This is the preview post #24 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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A very nice ammonite from Germany is next up. This is a Zugodactylites braunianum. Come on out on Saturday for the second auction to get this one!
This is the preview post #23 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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Another Tully Monster is up as Preview #23. Come on out and you can own a specimen of the Illinois State Fossil!
This is the preview post #22 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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A detailed specimen of Kallidecthes richardsoni is our Preview #22 for the Live Auction at the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show. To learn more about this shrimp, see Mazon Monday #48.
This is the preview post #21 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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A Mazon Creek Cyclopteris obicularis is the next Live Auction Preview. For more information, see Mazon Monday #59. This gorgeous fossil will be part of the second auction on Saturday.
This is the "Fossil Friday" post #256. This is a 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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For this week, we have Euphoberia, a millipede from the Mazon Creek fossil deposit. This particular specimen was found in the Mazon River during the summer of 2024. To learn more, see Mazon Monday #23.
This is the preview post #20 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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A stunning piece of yellow fluorite from the Cave-In-Rock area of southern Illinois. This was collected by an ESCONI member many years ago.
This is Throwback Thursday #256. 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! email:[email protected].
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Here are some scenes from the 2018 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show, which was held on March 25th and 26th, 2018.
Nice view of the floor
Hello, come on in!
What do you have there, Marie?
Andy and Bryan
Bruce, where's the Ginkos?
Don demonstrating lapidary... does he ever age?!?
Jeff cracking geodes
Display case from the Field Museum
Auction specimens
This is the preview post #19 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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A Riker mount of South Dakota Oligocene fossils is preview #19 for the live auction. This will be part of the auction on Sunday.
This is the preview post #18 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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A beautiful piece of green fluorite with calcite from Xianghualin, Hunan Providence, China is our specimen for preview #18. This is a gorgeous piece. You need to see this one in person! This will be part of our first live auction on Saturday.
This is the preview post #17 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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We have a very rare Mazon Creek fossil to show you today. This is a Glaphurochiton concinnus, which is a mollusk, belonging to the same Phylum as oysters, clams, cephalopods, snails, and gastropods. They always have eight ornamented segments or valves. Glaphurochiton concinnus was one of the first animal described by Dr. Eugene Richardson, Jr. He named it Helminthochiton concinnus. It was later reassigned as Glaphurochiton in 1986. For more information, see Mazon Monday #175.
This is the preview post #16 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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This is a Mazon Creek insect in the order Protorthoptera. It will be part of the second auction on Saturday March 15th, 2025.
This is Mazon Monday post #259. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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Pecopteris bucklandii is one of the rarer ferns from Mazon Creek. Like all the true ferns from Mazon Creek, P. bucklandii is an extinct species of the class Filcopsida. It's fronds have been associated with the Caboniferous tree fern Psaronius.
Pecopteris bucklandii was named by Adolphe-Theodore Brongniart (1801-1876) in 1834. Brongniart is considered by many to be the father of paleobotany.
Jack Wittry's book "A Complete Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek" has Pecopteris bucklandii on page 116.
Pecopteris bucklandii Brongniart, 1834
1834. Pecopteris bucklandii Brongniart: p. 319, pl. 99, fig. 2
1870. Pecopteris bucklandi Brongniart; Lesquereux: p. 401
1880. Pecopteris bucklandi Brongniart; Lesquereux: p. 244
1925. Eupecopteris bucklandi Kidston: p. 555, pl. 120, fig 6; pl. 132, fig. 1
1951. Pecopteris bucklandi Brongniart; Corsin: p. 266, pl. 145, fig. 1
1951. Pecopteris cf. bucklandi Brongniart; Corsin: p. 268, pl. 191, figs. 4-6
1969. Pecopteris bucklandi Brongniart; Darrah: p. 128DESCRIPTION: The pinnules are alternate, contiguous, straight-sided, bluntly terminated, and slightly oblique. The rachis is smooth or lightly striate. The pinnules may appear to be decurrent, or constricted on the basiscopic side with a sinus on the acroscopic side. The midvein is thick, straight, and slightly decurrent at the base. The lateral veins are distant, oblique, curve gently, and fork once near their bases. Lower in the pinnules, the upper vein may fork again.
REMARKS: Pecopteris bucklandii is rare. Fig. 3 is the only known fertile example of P. bucklandii and it appears to have elongated sori which conform at a generic level to Acitheca.
Specimens
ESCONI member fossil - Marie Angkuw (Fossil Friday #255)
From George's Basement
This is the preview post #15 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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A beautiful chunk of calcite is preview #15. This is a very nice piece!
This is the preview post #14 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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Preview #14 is the first of a few Fluorite specimens we'll have at the live auction. This one has quite beautiful woith more than a bit of color! This one was collected from the Minerva Mine in southern Illinois.
This is the preview post #13 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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An Acanthodes fish from Mazon Creek is our 13th preview for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. This fish was collected a few decades ago. Read more about Acanthodes in Mazon Monday #9.
This is the preview post #11 for the 2025 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction. The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 15th and 16th at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year. All details can be found here.
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A beautiful specimen of Malachite from the famous copper mines in Bisbee, AZ is preview #11. This is a gorgeous piece! Come out and see it in person for the Saturday afternoon auction.
This is the "Fossil Friday" post #255. This is a 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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We have a very rare Mazon Creek fern for this week's Fossil Friday. This is Pecopteris bucklandii.
This gorgeous specimen was collected from the Mazon River by Marie Angkuw. It was opened via the freeze/thaw method during the winter of 2024-2025. Thanks for sharing, Marie!
