Tag Archives: Cambrian

A new paper on brachiopod symbiosis in the Early Paleozoic

My Estonian colleague and friend Olev Vinn and I have been working for many years on examples of parasitism recorded in the fossil record. For the last couple of years we have been summarizing the data and assessing paleoecological and … Continue reading

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Cambrian bryozoans? Not yet! [Update in October 2021: Now there ARE Cambrian bryozoans!]

Editor’s Note: The post below was written in December 2012 about a purported bryozoan found in Cambrian rocks. This would have been a major find because bryozoans, a major fossilized phylum, were notably missing from the Cambrian record, despite molecular … Continue reading

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New paper on predatory drill holes in Cambrian/Ordovician brachiopods (northern Estonia and northwest Russia)

Once again I’m proud to be on Olev Vinn’s team with this new article on predatory drill holes in Cambrian and Ordovician brachiopods. Predation in the fossil record is always interesting, especially in the early Paleozoic. Here is the abstract … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: A bored Ordovician hardground from Ohio, and an introduction to a new paper on trace fossils and evolution

Above is an image of a carbonate hardground (cemented seafloor) from the Upper Ordovician of Adams County, Ohio. It comes from the Bull Fork Formation and was recovered along State Route 136 north of Manchester, Ohio (Locality C/W-20). It is … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Echinoderm holdfasts from the Upper Cambrian of Montana

The white buttons above are echinoderm holdfasts from the Snowy Range Formation (Upper Cambrian) of Carbon County, southern Montana. They and their hardground substrate were well described back in the day by Brett et al. (1983). We have these specimens … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A phyllocarid crustacean from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada

We are fortunate at Wooster to have a few fossils from the Burgess Shale (Middle Cambrian) collected near Burgess Pass, British Columbia, Canada, including this delicate phyllocarid Canadaspis perfecta (Walcott, 1912). This species is one of the oldest crustaceans, a … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A tectonically-deformed Early Cambrian trilobite from southeastern California

This wonderful trilobite was found last month by Olivia Brown (’15), a student on the Wooster Geology Department’s glorious field trip to the Mojave Desert. Olivia collected it at Emigrant Pass in the Nopah Range of Inyo County, southeastern California. … Continue reading

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Wooster Geologist at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

BRYN MAWR, PENNSYLVANIA–While visiting my friends and colleagues Katherine and Pedro Marenco at Bryn Mawr College, I visited the nearby Valley Forge National Historical Park. Everyone will remember, of course that this is the place outside Philadelphia that the Continental … Continue reading

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Grand Canyon Expedition 2012

This summer (26 July through 2 August) I had the pleasure to serve as a guest geologist on a rafting trip to the Grand Canyon. The trip logistics were engineered by Doug Drushal under the auspices of Environmental Experiences, Inc. … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: Marrella splendens (Burgess Shale, Middle Cambrian, British Columbia)

The first story about this iconic fossil is the trouble I went through to get the photograph above. Our specimen of Marrella splendens is preserved in the common Burgess Shale fashion as a thin dark film on a black piece … Continue reading

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