Tag Archives: fossils

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A barnacle and sponge symbiosis from the Middle Jurassic of Israel

mwilson July 4, 2014 1:19 am

[Programing note: Wooster’s Fossil of the Week is now being released on Fridays to correspond with the popular Fossil Friday on Twitter and other platforms.] This week’s fossil is again from the Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) of southern Israel. … Continue reading →

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Last day of work at the Natural History Museum, and some special visitors

mwilson June 25, 2014 4:14 pm

LONDON, ENGLAND — I know it is an acquired taste, and way too esoteric, but I think the above scanning electron micrograph is beautiful. This is an undescribed species of the cyclostome bryozoan Corynotrypa from the Upper Ordovician Bromide Formation … Continue reading →

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A day’s work in the Natural History Museum, London

mwilson June 23, 2014 3:32 pm

LONDON, ENGLAND — This is one of my favorite places in the world. It is a Victorian cathedral of science: The Natural History Museum in London. Today I began three intense days of research with Paul Taylor in his paleontology … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologist in London at the British Museum

mwilson June 22, 2014 1:42 pm

LONDON, ENGLAND — I arrived late last night in London after a series of delays in my departure from Poland, so I was pleased that today was a Sunday so I could chill a bit before work with Paul Taylor … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A silicified rhynchonellid brachiopod from the Permian of West Texas

mwilson June 22, 2014 1:01 am

Sometimes fossils can be more useful when broken than whole. Above is a much-abused rhynchonellid brachiopod from the Road Canyon Formation (Middle Permian, Roadian, about 270 million years old) found in the Glass Mountains of southwestern Texas. It is part … Continue reading →

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The Triassic limestones at Góra Świętej Anny, Poland

mwilson June 18, 2014 2:27 pm

SOSNOWIEC, POLAND — My friends Michał Zatoń and Tomasz Borszcz took me on a very pleasant day trip to Góra Świętej Anny in southwestern Poland about an hour’s drive northwest from Sosnowiec. This is a place of considerable geological and … Continue reading →

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A new Polish colleague (and cool dinosaur model)

mwilson June 17, 2014 12:57 pm

SOSNOWIEC, POLAND — The above full-scale model of Tyrannosaurus rex is one of my favorite dinosaur reconstructions. It sits in front of the Earth Sciences Building at the University of Silesia. Since it is outside the lighting is always dramatic, … Continue reading →

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Research begins in southern Poland

mwilson June 16, 2014 4:49 pm

SOSNOWIEC, POLAND — On this beautiful day I began research at the University of Silesia with Michał Zatoń and Tomasz Borszcz in this impressive building. (It is reportedly the tallest Earth Science building in the world, although the Chinese are on … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A geopetal structure in a boring from the Middle Jurassic of Israel

mwilson June 15, 2014 1:25 am

We have a very simple trace and body fossil combination this week that provides a stratigraphic and structural geologic tool. Above is a bit of scleractinian coral from the Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) of Makhtesh Gadol in southern Israel. … Continue reading →

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The last presentations of the 2014 Larwood Meeting, including a sober reminder for paleontologists

mwilson June 13, 2014 2:33 pm

SOPOT, POLAND — This morning we had the final set of talks at Larwood 2014. Out of all the presentations, the one that struck me the most was by Paul Taylor and Andrea Waeschenbach entitled “Molecular phylogeny and the adequacy … Continue reading →

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