Tag Archives: fossils

Wooster Geologist in New York

mwilson August 5, 2015 12:05 am

LOCKPORT, NEW YORK (August 5, 2015) — What looks like an ordinary commercial quarry above is actually quite unusual. It is an excavation done entirely by amateur paleontologists (“citizen scientists”) to collect and preserve fossils from the Rochester Shale (Upper … Continue reading →

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

mwilson July 31, 2015 12:04 am

This summer I’ve been updating some of the photos I placed in the Wikipedia system (check them out here, if you like; free to use for any purpose). I was especially anxious to replace a low-resolution image I had made … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A calcareous sponge from the Lower Cretaceous of England

mwilson July 24, 2015 12:01 am

One of my favorite fossil localities is a gravel pit in Oxfordshire, England. Gravel pits are not usually good for fossil collecting given their coarse nature and high-energy deposition, but the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) Faringdon Sponge Gravels are special. They … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A coiled nautiloid from the Middle Devonian of Ohio

mwilson July 17, 2015 12:10 am

The above fossil is a nautiloid cut in cross-section, showing the large body chamber at the bottom and behind it to the left and above the phragmocone, or chambered portion of the conch (shell). It is a species of Goldringia … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A small lobster from the Lower Cretaceous of North Yorkshire, England

mwilson July 10, 2015 12:25 am

Mae Kemsley (’16) found this little beauty during her Independent Study fieldwork last month on the Speeton Cliffs of North Yorkshire. It is Meyeria ornata (Phillips, 1829), a decapod of the lobster variety, from the Speeton Clay. It is relatively … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: An Upper Ordovician cave-dwelling bryozoan fauna and its exposed equivalents

mwilson July 3, 2015 12:19 am

This week’s fossils were the subject of a presentation at the 2015 Larwood Symposium of the International Bryozoology Association in Thurso, Scotland, last month. Caroline Buttler, Head of Palaeontology at the National Museum Wales, Cardiff, brilliantly gave our talk describing … Continue reading →

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Link to posts from Wooster Geologists in the United Kingdom in June 2015

mwilson June 29, 2015 11:52 am

I spent 25 days in England, Scotland and Wales this month, 12 of them with these two happy Senior Independent Study students, Mae Kemsley (’16) and Meredith Mann (’16) — dubbed “Team Yorkshire”. We had to delay our blog posts … Continue reading →

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Last day of fieldwork in England: A working quarry and another great unconformity

mwilson June 26, 2015 6:26 am

BRISTOL, ENGLAND (June 26, 2015) — Tim Palmer has a professional interest in building stones, and a passion for sorting out their characteristics and historical uses. He thus has many contacts in the stone industry, from architects to quarry managers. … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: An encrusted bivalve external mold from the Upper Ordovician of Indiana

mwilson June 26, 2015 12:46 am

I love this kind of fossil, which explains why you’ve seen so many examples on this blog. We are looking at an encrusted external mold of the bivalve Anomalodonta gigantea found in the Waynesville Formation exposed in Franklin County, Indiana. … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologist in England (again)

mwilson June 25, 2015 6:25 am

BRISTOL, ENGLAND (June 25, 2015) — Our little geological exploration of southern Britain now passes into England. Tim Palmer and I crossed the River Severn and drove to the Cotswolds to examine old quarry exposures and Medieval stonework. We are … Continue reading →

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