Tag Archives: Fossil of the Week

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: an upside-down nautiloid from the Devonian of Wisconsin

This lump of a fossil in Wooster’s teaching collection requires some explanation. It is not particularly well preserved, but it is our only representative of an interesting group of nautiloid cephalopods. The label that came with it says it is … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: A rugose coral and its encrusters from the Middle Devonian of New York

This week’s fossils were found on a most excellent field trip to the Niagara region of New York in August. One of our outcrops was a small patch of gravel in Bethany Center where the Centerfield Limestone Member of the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A spherical bryozoan from the Upper Ordovician of northeastern Estonia

Way back in July 2007 we had our first Team Estonia doing geological field research. Andrew Milligan (’08) and I, with our friend Dr. Olev Vinn of the University of Tartu, explored the Upper Ordovician of the northeastern part of … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: “Lapis Judaicus” from the Middle Jurassic of southern Israel

Paul Taylor (Natural History Museum, London) is, along with his other talents, an expert on the folklore of fossils. His accounts of how fossils have been used and imagined in the past are fascinating, especially to paleontologists who work with … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: calcareous sponges from the Middle Jurassic of southern Israel

This post is in honor of Yael Leshno, a graduate student at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem who is beginning her dissertation on the Middle Jurassic marine fossils of Israel. I’m proud to be on her committee. She will have … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A starry bryozoan from the Upper Ordovician of southern Ohio

At this time of the year I pick out one interesting specimen from the fossils my Invertebrate Paleontology class collected on their first field trip into the Upper Ordovician of southern Ohio. They did so well this week that I … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A mystery fossil for my Invertebrate Paleontology students

At the beginning of my Invertebrate Paleontology course I give each student a fossil to identify by whatever means necessary. I challenge them to take it down to the species level, and tell me its age and likely place of … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: An encrusted and bored oyster from the Upper Jurassic of northern England

This week’s fossil is a celebration of classes beginning again at Wooster, and a memory of excellent summer fieldwork. It isn’t especially attractive, but it has paleontological significance. We are looking at a broken surface through a thick oyster from … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A blastoid from the Lower Carboniferous of Illinois

It is sometimes hard to believe that exquisite fossils such as the above are sometimes very common. The above is a theca of the blastoid Pentremites godoni (DeFrance, 1819) found in the Lower Carboniferous (Mississippian) of Illinois. (Thanks to expert … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A very large Upper Jurassic ammonite from southern England

The shard above doesn’t look like much. It comes from a specimen far too large for us to excavate, let alone pack onto a plane for the trip home. Here’s a view of one of the full specimens still in … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment