Tag Archives: fossils

Wooster Geologists begin fieldwork in southwestern France

Mark Wilson June 1, 2017 6:01 am

LA BARDE, FRANCE–Macy Conrad and I began our paleontological fieldwork in what may be the most beautiful part of Europe: southwestern France. Our superb guide and colleague is Natural History Museum scientist Dr. Paul Taylor, a long-time friend who has … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologist in Austria

Mark Wilson May 27, 2017 5:27 am

VIENNA, AUSTRIA–I had the privilege this week to attend the 14th Larwood Symposium of the International Bryozoology Association (IBA) in this beautiful city. It was my first visit, and I was of course very impressed. Above is a view of … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: A trilobite hypostome with an encrusting cyclostome bryozoan (Upper Ordovician of Kentucky)

Mark Wilson May 26, 2017 12:01 am

A quick post this week. Above is a bit of a large isotelid trilobite my students and I found this past spring break on an expedition to the Upper Ordovician (Katian) of northern Kentucky. It was collected at a roadside outcrop … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: A bouquet of barnacles on a pectenid bivalve from the Upper Miocene of Virginia

Mark Wilson May 19, 2017 12:01 am

These beautiful fossils were found in York State Park by Mae Kemsley (’16). It was a surprise gift I found on my doorstep! They are fossil barnacles completely covering the exterior of a valve of the pectenid bivalve Chesapecten middlesexensis … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Belemnites (Jurassic of Wyoming)

Mark Wilson May 12, 2017 12:01 am

This week’s fossils are among the most recognizable. They certainly are popular in my paleontology courses because no one has ever misidentified one. Belemnites (from the Greek belemnon, meaning javelin or dart) were squid-like cephalopods that lived in the Jurassic … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: a medullosalean pteridosperm (Upper Carboniferous of northeastern Ohio)

Mark Wilson May 5, 2017 1:33 am

It is time we had another fossil plant in this series. The above specimen is Neuropteris ovata Hoffmann 1826, a relatively common bit of foliage in the Upper Carboniferous of North America. This is a pteridosperm, more commonly known as … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Sponge and clam borings that revealed an ancient climate event (Upper Pleistocene of The Bahamas)

Mark Wilson April 28, 2017 12:01 am

This week’s fossils celebrate the publication today of a paper in Nature Geoscience that has been 20 years in the making. The title is: “Sea-level oscillations during the Last Interglacial highstand recorded by Bahamas coral”, and the senior author is … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A Biserial Graptolite (Middle Ordovician of Tennessee)

Mark Wilson April 21, 2017 12:01 am

This week’s fossils are graptolites (from the Greek for written rocks) I found many years ago in the Lebanon Limestone near the town of Caney Springs south of Nashville, Tennessee. They are of the genus Amplexograptus and probably belong to … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A Conulariid (Lower Carboniferous of Indiana)

Mark Wilson April 14, 2017 12:01 am

I have some affection for these odd fossils, the conulariids. When I was a student in the Invertebrate Paleontology course taught Dr. Richard Osgood, Jr., I did my research paper on them. I had recently found a specimen in the … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Bivalve escape trace fossils (Devonian and Cretaceous)

Mark Wilson April 7, 2017 12:01 am

It is time again to dip into the wonderful world of trace fossils. These are tracks, trails, burrows and other evidence of organism behavior. The specimen above is an example. It is Lockeia James, 1879, from the Dakota Formation (Upper … Continue reading →

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