Tag Archives: Fossil of the Week

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: Spiriferinid brachiopod from the Lower Carboniferous of Ohio

Mark Wilson October 14, 2016 12:01 am

Sometimes I choose a Fossil of the Week from our Invertebrate Paleontology teaching collection because students have responded to it in some way. This week’s fossil brachiopod has confused my students a bit because it is an internal mold (unusual … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Upper Ordovician strophomenid brachiopods from Iowa

Mark Wilson October 7, 2016 12:01 am

Since we are covering brachiopods in my paleontology course this week, I’ve chosen a very recognizable genus from the Upper Ordovician of Iowa for our Fossil of the Week. This wrinkly strophomenid brachiopod is of the genus Leptaena Dalman, 1828. … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Pseudofossil of the Week: It’s not what it looks like

Mark Wilson September 30, 2016 12:01 am

Impressive, isn’t it? You can practically smell it steaming on your screen. Hard to believe this object is Miocene in age, about 6 million years old. Here’s another similar specimen in a top view, if we can say that. And … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Ordovician cryptostome bryozoans from southern Ohio

Mark Wilson September 23, 2016 12:01 am

A short entry this week because the annual meetings of the Geological Society of America and Paleontological Society begin this weekend in Denver. (Wooster is sending 17 students this year. Seventeen! A record for us.) The above image is a … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: New Early Silurian crinoids from Estonia

Mark Wilson September 16, 2016 12:01 am

It has been a good year for new fossil taxa on this blog. I’m pleased to present a fauna of Early Silurian crinoids from the Hilliste Formation (Rhuddanian) exposed on Hiiumaa Island, western Estonia. They are described in a paper … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Tiny athyridide brachiopods from the Lower Carboniferous of the West Midlands of England

Mark Wilson September 9, 2016 12:01 am

These little brachiopods were also in the recent gift package from Clive Champion, our English brachiopod expert and friend. They tested my photographic skills, being too large for our photomicroscope and at the limit of resolution for my camera with … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Mystery fossil solution — an oyster from the Middle Jurassic of southern England

Mark Wilson August 30, 2016 9:01 am

Last week I gave my students in Wooster’s Invertebrate Paleontology course a fossil to identify (shown above), using any techniques they want. This was their first task in the course, so it was difficult for most of them. I hope … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: A puzzle for my paleo students!

Mark Wilson August 26, 2016 12:01 am

Every year I start my Invertebrate Paleontology course by giving every student an “unknown” fossil to identify. (Here is last year’s version.) This is not always easy since each student gets the same species from the same horizon and with … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Another molluscan assemblage from the Miocene of Maryland (side two)

Mark Wilson August 19, 2016 12:01 am

Last month we featured a fossil slab kindly donated by Dale Chadwick of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Dale is an enthusiastic fossil collector with a very useful website for his favorite sites and specimens. I promised to show the other side of … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Trepostome bryozoans, burrow systems, and bedding features in an Upper Ordovician limestone from southeastern Minnesota

Mark Wilson August 12, 2016 12:01 am

One of the little mysteries on the recent Minnesota research trip by Wooster students, faculty and staff is the origin of thin limestone beds in the middle of the thick shales of the Decorah Formation (Upper Ordovician). How did such … Continue reading →

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