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.

A Wooster Geologist … on TV?

Mark Wilson March 3, 2012 12:44 pm

The irony of me appearing for brief moments as a commentator on last night’s episode of Ancient Aliens (“Aliens and Mega-Disasters“) is that I teach a course at Wooster entitled “Nonsense! And Why It’s So Popular“. One of our favorite … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A holey brachiopod (Lower Cretaceous of southeastern Spain)

Mark Wilson February 26, 2012 1:10 am

This striking and unusual brachiopod is Pygites diphyoides (d’Orbigny, 1847) from Hauterivian (Lower Cretaceous) of Cehegin, Murcia, Spain. Wooster acquired it through a recent generous exchange of brachiopods with Mr. Clive Champion in England. I had heard about this brachiopod … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: star sand (Recent of southern Japan)

Mark Wilson February 19, 2012 1:37 am

Yes, that “Recent” in the title was a clue that these are not actually fossils, but the little beauties fit the spirit of our series. This is sand from an unknown island beach in southern Japan. The spotted star-shaped grains … Continue reading →

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Geology and art meet with a ceramic creation from the Cretaceous extinctions

Mark Wilson February 16, 2012 7:49 pm

In August 2010 I had a fantastic geologic field trip to the tunnels of Geulhemmmerberg, The Netherlands, to see an unusual exposure of the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. There I collected a fist-sized sample of the famous boundary clay, which is found … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: An asteroid trace fossil from the Devonian of northeastern Ohio

Mark Wilson February 12, 2012 1:31 am

It is pretty obvious what made this excellent trace fossil: an asteroid echinoderm. (The term “asteroid” sounds odd here, but it is the technical term for a typical sea star.) The above is Asteriacites stelliformis Osgood, 1970, from the Chagrin … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A mysterious sponge (Late Ordovician of Ohio)

Mark Wilson February 5, 2012 1:48 am

I’ve been collecting and studying fossils from the Upper Ordovician of the Cincinnati region for three decades now, but I’ve never seen another specimen like the one pictured above. An amateur collector, Howard Freeland, generously donated this rock to Wooster … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A syringoporid coral (Lower Carboniferous of Arkansas)

Mark Wilson January 22, 2012 1:24 am

This specimen was collected from the Boone Limestone (Lower Carboniferous) near Hiwasse, Arkansas. It is a species of Syringopora Goldfuss 1826, sometimes known as the organ-pipe coral (but not the real organ pipe coral!). Syringoporids are tabulate corals, a group … Continue reading →

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

Mark Wilson January 15, 2012 1:42 am

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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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A scale tree (Late Carboniferous of Ohio)

Mark Wilson January 8, 2012 1:14 am

We haven’t had a plant fossil in this blog for awhile. Lepidodendron Sternberg 1820, pictured above, is one of the most common fossils brought to me in Wooster by amateur collectors. It is abundant in the Upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) sandstones, … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A Tully Monster! (Late Carboniferous of Illinois)

Mark Wilson January 1, 2012 1:33 am

We have several examples of one of the strangest fossils known: Tullimonstrum gregarium Richardson 1966 — otherwise affectionately known as the Tully Monster. The above specimen is from the Francis Creek Shale Member (Carbondale Formation) at Mazon Creek near Chicago, … Continue reading →

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