Tag Archives: fossils

The 16th Conference of the International Bryozoology Association

Mark Wilson June 17, 2013 1:33 am

CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY–The IBA meeting has now ended and, as this is posted, I should be winging my way home across the Atlantic. It was a fantastic experience. This is a unique organization, of which I’m now proud to be … Continue reading →

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Limestones, basalts, the wine-dark sea and the brooding volcano

Mark Wilson June 16, 2013 3:51 pm

CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY–Today we had our last field trip associated with the 2013 International Bryozoology Conference. We traveled to the east coast of Sicily at Castelluccio, which is south of Catania and north of Syracuse. The weather could not have … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A sawfish rostral tooth from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco

Mark Wilson June 16, 2013 1:00 am

More fossil fish teeth this week. This impressive, barbed tooth is from the ancient chondrichthyan sawfish Onchopristis numidus (Haug, 1905). It was found in the Tegana Formation (Cenomanian, Upper Cretaceous) near Kem Kem, Morocco (and is yet another contribution from … Continue reading →

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Sediments, fossils and vistas at the Capo Milazzo Peninsula, Sicily

Mark Wilson June 9, 2013 1:51 pm

CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY–This was the last day of our International Bryozoology Association pre-conference field trip through Sicily. We had an excellent time and covered an extraordinary amount of territory on this large Mediterranean island. We started our final day on … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil (and Mineral) of the Week: Marcasite worm burrows from Bolivia

Mark Wilson June 9, 2013 1:41 am

Here’s a type of fossil I’ve never seen: worm burrow casts made entirely of the mineral marcasite. These come from the George Chambers (’79) gift collection, so we know only that they were found in Bolivia. Despite the lack of … Continue reading →

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Return to the Pliocene at Altavilla Milicia, Sicily

Mark Wilson June 8, 2013 11:58 pm

Our last stop of the day on the IBA field trip was to a classic fossil locality on the north coast of Sicily about an hour east of Palermo. These are fine sandstones and marls preserving a diverse array of … Continue reading →

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A Sicilian rocky coast

Mark Wilson June 5, 2013 11:55 pm

NOTO, SICILY, ITALY–Our last stop of the day on this International Bryozoology Association field trip was on the southeastern coast of Sicily just north of Syracuse at Scala Greca. There are several very small bays here which have been used … Continue reading →

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A shelly bonanza from the Pleistocene of Sicily

Mark Wilson June 5, 2013 11:45 pm

NOTO, SICILY, ITALY–Our second stop of the day on this International Bryozoology Association field trip was in an unimpressive ditch (above) near Megara. But, of course, there is paleontological gold here: an assemblage of extremely well-preserved marine fossils. Colleague Andrej … Continue reading →

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Spectacular shrimp burrows from the Miocene of Sicily

Mark Wilson June 5, 2013 10:14 pm

NOTO, SICILY, ITALY–The first stop on our International Bryozoology Association field trip today was a newly-opened quarry near Cugni di Rio in the dry southeastern countryside of Sicily, a view of which is above. New quarries are always interesting to … Continue reading →

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Sicilian fossils at last!

Mark Wilson June 4, 2013 4:14 pm

CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY–After lunch our International Bryozoology Association field trip actually collected fossil bryozoans. We visited a quarry exposure of Lower Pleistocene cemented marls rich in the bryozoan Celleporaria palmata (Michelin), along with many other species. These were apparently from … Continue reading →

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