Tag Archives: fossils

Last Day of GSA 2016: An empty room awaits

Mark Wilson September 28, 2016 9:01 am

DENVER, COLORADO — The last day of the Geological Society of America meeting has finally arrived. Early this morning the above room will begin to gather a few of the remaining participants for a series of talks, including my own. … 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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2016 Wooster Paleontologists Field Trip

Mark Wilson September 11, 2016 10:28 pm

It was a beautiful day for fieldwork. Every fall I take Wooster’s Invertebrate Paleontology class into the field to collect specimens for study and analysis during the rest of the semester. It’s fun because these students have only completed two … 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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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A mytilid bivalve from the Middle Jurassic of southern Israel

Mark Wilson August 5, 2016 12:01 am

This week’s specimen comes from one of my favorite fossiliferous units: the Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) of Makhtesh Gadol in southern Israel. I’ve been delighted by the fossils and lithologies of the Matmor since 2003. This particular fossil is … Continue reading →

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