Tag Archives: fossils

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: My favorite part of a crinoid (Middle Jurassic of Israel)

Mark Wilson June 1, 2014 1:14 am

In April of this year I completed my 11th trip to southern Israel for fieldwork in the Mesozoic. My heart warmed every time I saw these robust plates of the crinoid Apiocrinities negevensis, which was reviewed in a previous blog … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A fly in amber

Mark Wilson May 25, 2014 1:24 am

A classic fossil this week. I wish I could say more about it. The specimen lost its label years ago, so I don’t know where it is from or its age (although a good guess is Neogene). I also can’t … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: “Star-rock” crinoids from the Middle Jurassic of Utah

Mark Wilson May 18, 2014 1:53 am

This little slab of crinoid stem fragments comes from the Co-op Creek Member of the Carmel Formation (Middle Jurassic) exposed in northwestern Kane County, Utah. I collected it with my friend Carol Tang as we explored a beautiful encrinite (a … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: One sick crinoid from the Middle Jurassic of Israel

Mark Wilson May 11, 2014 1:01 am

My first thought on seeing this distorted fossil was how much it evoked one of those Palaeolithic “Venus figurines“. It is certainly difficult to deduce that this is actually a crinoid column (or stem). It was found during my last … Continue reading →

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Last work of Team Israel, Matmor Division

Mark Wilson May 5, 2014 6:11 pm

WOOSTER, OHIO–Steph Bosch (’14) and Lizzie Reinthal (’14) volunteered to examine the Matmor Formation fossils I collected last month in Israel. Each fossil, most of which are crinoid ossicles, must be scanned under a microscope for tiny encrusters (especially bryozoans), … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A scolecodont from the Upper Ordovician of the Cincinnati region

Mark Wilson May 4, 2014 1:15 am

This tiny but fearsome jaw is known as a scolecodont, and they are fairly common in the Cincinnatian rocks (Upper Ordovician) in the tri-state area of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The label on this particular specimen does not indicate the … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A helpful echinoid from the Upper Cretaceous of Israel

Mark Wilson April 27, 2014 1:40 am

These beaten-up fossils have served me well in the field this month. They are the regular echinoid Heterodiadema lybicum (Agassiz & Desor, 1846). They are common in the Cenomanian throughout northern Africa and the Middle East. These particular specimens, the … Continue reading →

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Among citizen scientists in southern Israel

Mark Wilson April 24, 2014 12:13 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Today Yoav Avni and I drove south to meet an enthusiastic group of naturalists in Arava of the Jordan Rift Valley. The group is led by Dr. Hanan Ginat and consisted of a micropaleontologist and three amateur collectors … Continue reading →

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A 10K run into the Eocene of the Negev

Mark Wilson April 20, 2014 10:27 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Yoav and I had a long hike today into the Eocene succession of rock units in the northern Negev. We wanted to look especially at the Horsha Formation (Eocene, Lutetian) because it has some cool trace fossils and … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: A scleractinian coral and its tube-dwelling symbionts (Middle Jurassic of Israel)

Mark Wilson April 20, 2014 1:21 am

I have a weakness for the beautiful scleractinian corals of the Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian-Oxfordian) of southern Israel. This particular specimen is Microsolena aff. M. sadeki from locality C/W-367 in Hamakhtesh Hagadol, southern Israel. (The “aff.” in the name … Continue reading →

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