Tag Archives: fossils

Muscle scars in tiny conical fossils: A new paper describing the musculature of Devonian tentaculitids from Armenia and what they mean for the biology and evolution of the group

Mark Wilson December 3, 2025 5:45 pm

A new paper on tentaculitid paleobiology and evolution has just appeared in its final form in the journal Historical Biology. The authors are headed by my Estonian friend Olev Vinn and include two new Armenian colleagues Tamara Hambardzumyan and Vahram … Continue reading →

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A spotty Middle Ordovician trilobite from Estonia: A new paper describing an ancient parasitic infection

Mark Wilson November 26, 2025 11:01 am

One of the many reasons we need natural history museums is that they can curate large collections of specimens that can be examined for interesting features decades after they were bagged in the field. Recently my Estonian colleagues Olev Vinn … Continue reading →

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A new paper on James Parkinson’s neglected 19th century contributions to crinoid paleontology

Mark Wilson November 24, 2025 8:54 pm

About three years ago I became curious as to who the “Parkinson” was of Parkinson’s Disease. I found the Wikipedia entry for the man, and its first sentence is: “James Parkinson FGS (11 April 1755 – 21 December 1824) was … Continue reading →

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A new paper on a tiny cryptic trace fossil from the Silurian of Sweden and Estonia

Mark Wilson January 18, 2025 1:30 am

One of my favorite trace fossils (fossils that record ancient behavior) is the ichnogenus Arachnostega. It was first formally described and named by Bertling in 1992, which is surprisingly recent for such a common fossil. This week my Estonian colleagues … Continue reading →

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Carbonate hardgrounds at Wooster

Mark Wilson September 25, 2024 1:34 pm

On the second floor of Wooster’s Scovel Hall, in a room behind the main teaching laboratory, are six cabinets completely full of labelled rocks and fossils (see below). There is even an additional set of specimens too large for the … Continue reading →

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A local geological field trip on a midsummer’s day: Return to the Lower Carboniferous of Lodi, Ohio

Mark Wilson July 12, 2024 10:28 pm

Wooster, Ohio– This afternoon three industrious summer research students and I took advantage of the brilliant weather to drive 30 minutes north of town to Lodi Community Park in Medina County, Ohio. We wanted to take a break from lab … Continue reading →

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James Parkinson, Paleontologist

Mark Wilson June 20, 2024 8:33 am

Ann Arbor, Michigan — This morning I gave a talk at the North American Paleontological Convention (NAPC) about the extensive contributions that the English physician James Parkinson (1755-1824) made to the rapidly growing field of paleontology in the early 19th … Continue reading →

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Twisty little encrusting tubeworms: A new paper describes two new Jurassic spirorbin species, pushing back the origin of the group and giving us a nice paleoecological evolution narrative.

Mark Wilson May 30, 2024 10:26 am

Several of my colleagues and I have been studying the fossil records of tubeworms for almost three decades now. We find them especially interesting because they are often beautifully preserved on hard substrates like shells, rocks and hardgrounds. They represent … Continue reading →

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The Geoheritage of the Sõrve Peninsula, Saaremaa Island, Estonia: A Silurian Marine Paradise

Mark Wilson May 18, 2024 4:38 pm

A geoheritage site is a location where the geological features are worth preserving for scientific and cultural reasons. It is a relatively new term dating back to the 1990s. The purpose of designating a geoheritage site is to mark it … Continue reading →

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The encrusters who went missing: A new paper on the taphonomy of bryozoans that encrusted brachiopods in the Late Ordovician of the Cincinnati region, USA

Mark Wilson May 13, 2024 8:51 am

I’ve spent much of my career investigating marine sclerobionts through time. A sclerobiont is an organism that lives on or within a hard substrate. Among marine sclerobionts are oysters that encrust cephalopod shells, barnacles attached to boat hulls, and clams … Continue reading →

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