Author Archives: mwilson

About mwilson

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 paleontologists begin a new field season

mwilson March 8, 2014 8:30 pm

RICHMOND, INDIANA–This is the first day of what upper midwesterners hilariously call “spring break”, so it is time to get some students in the field. I can’t say this is the first Wooster geology fieldwork of the year because that … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: An agate-replaced coral from the Oligocene-Miocene of Florida

mwilson March 2, 2014 1:42 am

I long thought of this beautiful specimen as more rock than fossil. It is a scleractinian coral that has had its outer skeleton replaced by the silicate material agate and its interior skeleton completely hollowed out. The result is a … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: An interlocking rugose and tabulate coral (Devonian of Michigan)

mwilson February 23, 2014 1:21 am

This beautifully polished fossil looks like half of an antique bowling ball. Normally I hate polished fossils because the external details have been erased, but in this case the smooth surface reveals details about the organisms and their relationship. We … Continue reading →

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A visit to the Florida Museum of Natural History

mwilson February 17, 2014 8:44 pm

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA — The 10th North American Paleontological Convention here is sponsored by the Florida Museum of Natural History. (The meeting is excellent, by the way, and very well organized. Congratulations to the paleontological team that put it together.) Since … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologists at the North American Paleontological Convention in Florida

mwilson February 16, 2014 5:49 pm

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA–Steph Bosch (’14), Lizzie Reinthal (’14) and I flew out of icy Ohio this weekend to attend the 10th North American Paleontological Convention in warm, sunny northern Florida. The students jointly presented the beautiful poster above on their Independent … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A tubeworm-encrusted parasitic gastropod (Silurian of Indiana)

mwilson February 16, 2014 1:26 am

Last week three Wooster geology students and I visited Ken Karns, an enthusiastic citizen scientist who has developed an extraordinary fossil collection in his home in Lancaster, Ohio. Ken is a man of prodigious energies and skills as he not … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Bioclaustration-boring structures in bryozoans from the Upper Ordovician of the Cincinnati region

mwilson February 9, 2014 1:36 am

Another bioerosion mystery from those fascinating Upper Ordovician rocks around Cincinnati. Above you see a flat, bifoliate trepostome bryozoan (probably Peronopora) with pock holes scattered across its surface. At first you may think, after reading so many blog posts here, … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Mysterious borings in brachiopods from the Upper Ordovician of the Cincinnati region

mwilson February 2, 2014 1:19 am

Above is a well-used brachiopod from the Upper Ordovician of northern Kentucky (C/W-152; Petersburg-Bullittsville Road, Boone County; Bellevue Member of the Grant Lake Formation). It experienced several events on the ancient seafloor during its short time of exposure. Let’s put … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Trace fossils making ghostly shells (Upper Cretaceous of Mississippi)

mwilson January 26, 2014 1:03 am

The unusual fossil above was collected by Megan Innis (’11) and myself in Mississippi during a May 2010 paleontological expedition with Caroline Sogot and Paul Taylor of The Natural History Museum, London. That splendid trip has contributed already to one … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A crinoid-rich Lower Carboniferous siderite concretion (part III — those crinoids had company)

mwilson January 19, 2014 1:04 am

The last installment of our analysis of a Lower Carboniferous fossiliferous siderite concretion given to the department by Sam Root. In part I we looked at the crinoid stems and calices on the outside and discuss the formation of siderite … Continue reading →

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