Monthly Archives: September 2017

Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: An oyster reef from the Middle Jurassic of southwestern Utah

It was a pleasure to pull this massive specimen out of the cabinets, where it had been sitting for more than 20 years. It is a small reef of the oyster Liostrea strigilecula (White, 1877) from the Carmel Formation (Middle Jurassic) … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Chaetetids from the Upper Carboniferous of Liaoning Province, North China

Three years ago I had a short and painful trip to China to meet my new colleague and friend Yongli Zhang (Department of Geology, Northeastern University, Shenyang). The China part was great; the pain was from an unfortunately-timed kidney stone … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: Predatory trace from the Upper Cretaceous of southwestern France

One hole in a shell is unremarkable. Several in a repeating pattern is a story. Above is a right valve (exterior) of the oyster Pycnodonte vesicularis from the Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) of southwestern France. It was collected during our fantastic … Continue reading

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Wildfires in Montana

Windy, warm, and dry is a good recipe for wildfires, and that has been the norm for Montana this year.  For example, from June 1 through September 4, Missoula received 2.07 inches of precipitation, less than half its average rainfall … Continue reading

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The annual Wooster Paleontology field trip to the Upper Ordovician (Fall 2017 version)

It’s not that I haven’t loved all my Invertebrate Paleontology classes, but the students this year are special because there are only ten of them. Lately I’ve had up to thirty students per class which is great for many reasons, … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A rudist clam from the Upper Cretaceous of southwestern France

When we picked up this beautiful fossil in southwestern France this summer, Paul Taylor immediately predicted it would become a Wooster Fossil of the Week. Macy Conrad (’18), Paul and I were on our wonderful expedition in the Type Campanian … Continue reading

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Unknown fossils for the Invertebrate Paleontology class at Wooster

I start my Invertebrate Paleontology classes with an unknown fossil given to each student. I pick something I have enough examples of so that everyone gets the same species. As their first assignment, the students are asked to identify their … Continue reading

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