Author Archives: Mark Wilson

About Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson is an emeritus Professor of Geology at The College of Wooster. He specializes in invertebrate paleontology, carbonate sedimentology, and stratigraphy. He also is an expert on pseudoscience, especially creationism.

Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: A bouquet of barnacles on a pectenid bivalve from the Upper Miocene of Virginia

Mark Wilson May 19, 2017 12:01 am

These beautiful fossils were found in York State Park by Mae Kemsley (’16). It was a surprise gift I found on my doorstep! They are fossil barnacles completely covering the exterior of a valve of the pectenid bivalve Chesapecten middlesexensis … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologists graduate!

Mark Wilson May 18, 2017 9:28 am

WOOSTER, OHIO — We had the pleasure on Monday of watching our geology seniors cross the stage and receive their diplomas. It happens every year, of course, and every year is special. Above is an image of most of the … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Belemnites (Jurassic of Wyoming)

Mark Wilson May 12, 2017 12:01 am

This week’s fossils are among the most recognizable. They certainly are popular in my paleontology courses because no one has ever misidentified one. Belemnites (from the Greek belemnon, meaning javelin or dart) were squid-like cephalopods that lived in the Jurassic … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: a medullosalean pteridosperm (Upper Carboniferous of northeastern Ohio)

Mark Wilson May 5, 2017 1:33 am

It is time we had another fossil plant in this series. The above specimen is Neuropteris ovata Hoffmann 1826, a relatively common bit of foliage in the Upper Carboniferous of North America. This is a pteridosperm, more commonly known as … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Sponge and clam borings that revealed an ancient climate event (Upper Pleistocene of The Bahamas)

Mark Wilson April 28, 2017 12:01 am

This week’s fossils celebrate the publication today of a paper in Nature Geoscience that has been 20 years in the making. The title is: “Sea-level oscillations during the Last Interglacial highstand recorded by Bahamas coral”, and the senior author is … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologists participate in the historic March For Science on Earth Day, 2017

Mark Wilson April 22, 2017 6:25 pm

Wooster, Ohio — It was a chilly day downtown, but several hundred people gathered for the national March For Science. We were one of over 500 local events across the country advocating for science awareness, education and funding. Thank you … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A Biserial Graptolite (Middle Ordovician of Tennessee)

Mark Wilson April 21, 2017 12:01 am

This week’s fossils are graptolites (from the Greek for written rocks) I found many years ago in the Lebanon Limestone near the town of Caney Springs south of Nashville, Tennessee. They are of the genus Amplexograptus and probably belong to … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A Conulariid (Lower Carboniferous of Indiana)

Mark Wilson April 14, 2017 12:01 am

I have some affection for these odd fossils, the conulariids. When I was a student in the Invertebrate Paleontology course taught Dr. Richard Osgood, Jr., I did my research paper on them. I had recently found a specimen in the … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Bivalve escape trace fossils (Devonian and Cretaceous)

Mark Wilson April 7, 2017 12:01 am

It is time again to dip into the wonderful world of trace fossils. These are tracks, trails, burrows and other evidence of organism behavior. The specimen above is an example. It is Lockeia James, 1879, from the Dakota Formation (Upper … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: A slab of Upper Ordovician bivalves from northern Kentucky

Mark Wilson March 31, 2017 12:01 am

Earlier this month, Luke Kosowatz, Matt Shearer and I went on a field trip through the Cincinnati region collecting Upper Ordovician (Katian) bryozoans and examples of bioerosion for their Independent Study projects and other investigations. I picked up the above … Continue reading →

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