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For those of you in the Chicago area, ESCONI (Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois) is having their annual show March 16-17 this year. More details on their website: ESCONI 2024 Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show! March 16th and 17th, 2024 #gem #mineral #fossil #show #2024 #fossils #minerals #gems - Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

Just got back from a weekend trip to Chicago to visit the Field museum and a few other places. I'm really kind of at a loss for words on what to say about it. "Wow" is all I can think of right now. I spent 4 hours there and never went anyplace other than the dinosaur hall. Over 200 pictures and video clips to download, I plan to make a short review video but thats going to take a while. It just really is breathtaking. From seeing Maximo the Titanosaur in the main hall, and the ability to walk under it. So many beautiful specimens from the Texas Permian beds I recently had the chance to work in. Displays from the Fossil Lake of Wyoming, including so many holotypes! And of course, seeing SUE the T.rex. I've seen the movie "Dinosaur 13" dozens of times, and met the Larsons who found and excavated her. I've even seen the traveling Sue here in Oklahoma, but its still amazing to stand there and see it in person.

Hi everyone! I'm going on a fossil hunt soon to Fort Sheridan in Lake County Illinois and part of a college club trip! I know the area around Lake Michigan usually has lots of Silurian era (443-419 Million Years ago) fossils, some I'm wondering what kind of fossils can be found in that area?

Hello, I recently posted about my second trip to Mazon Creek in the Trip Forum. I added some pictures of my fossils to ID but I believe that was the wrong forum to ask that in. I am now posting those pictures in this forum so I can get some more help. Below are some of the fragments I found. I apologize if this is excessive posting. Thank you in advance for your time to ID. The pictures below I believe are jellyfish 1) 2) Below are some I believe could be Tully fossils. 3) Looks like the fin? 4) Could be the body 5) Looks to me to be a beak, not sure if any other creatures found in this area would also have one? Very smooth to the touch. These are fossils that I have no clue what they could be. These were already fractures when I found them so some of the fossil could be lost. 6) 7) 8) Tried to clean this one best I could. Kind of resembles a leaf to me. 9) Strange grooves that go in a circular shape. Also a big divot that almost leads to a stem like opening?

Hello, just went to amazon Creek today. Convinced myself to go out even though it was snowing haha. Well worth the trip though. Got very lucky to find my first concentration of fossils. I believe I got some jelly fish and possibly some Tully monster parts? Let me know what you think! I believe the first 3 could be a Tully monster (beak and body parts). The next 3 I believe are jellyfish. The final 3 I am unsure about if anyone. If anyone has any ideas, let me know! These are all fragments too. I have some unopened ones I am going to soak then freeze. Will update when I get those results.

i’m pretty novice when it comes to my fossil hunting experience, i’ve done a few trips but nothing crazy. During most of those trips, i always had the goal in mind of finding a trilobite fossil, but, as of now, i haven’t had much success other than a partial pygidium. i think the main problem for me is that i don’t really know where to look. When i try to do research online i don’t really find much. the most pat payoff i’ve had is looking through old geology surveys. I know that finding a trilobite, let alone a complete one, is very rare, but are there any places in particular that I could go to that could yield them? anything that’s like 6 hours away from chicago would do, and also ideally it’s at a place where i don’t have to worry about the law getting on my back. and as long as i’m here, are there any good resources around for finding fossil hunting locations? like websites, PDFs or books?

I've been looking through some fossils I found around two months ago on Prinz Tobey Beach in Chicago, Illinois, which has Silurian aged fossils, and I'm wondering if anyone could ID any of the specimens (primarily Crinoids) to a specific genera?

I was lucky enough last week to be able to make my second donation to the collections of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. This donation consisted of two Mazon Creek finds from the river itself, both collected on the I&M Canal outing last year. The first is an extremely rare tetrapod larva. The second fossil is an exceedingly well-preserved Orthacanthus tooth, featuring serrations in the cusp, a very rare trait for Mazon Creek teeth of this sort. It may prove to be complete as well. I was able to visit the museum to make the donation this time and it was an honor to go behind the scenes and talk to professional paleontologists about these specimens and Mazon Creek collecting. Thanks again to @jdp for helping make this possible!

I encountered this facing stone in the lobby of the Chicago Board of Trade building (1930). It’s some kind of cobble conglomerate(?) but I’ve never seen its like. The security guard said it was from Italy, but I haven’t done further research. Photos below show fossils and various lithologies. Help, please!

On March first, I decided to rent a car and drive south. I'm finishing school in Chicago in May and am preparing to move west, so I really had no time to waste collecting Illinois. I hit three spots - one limestone road cut and one shale road cut in Oglesby, IL and the Mazon pits on the way back up to the city. I'm grateful to a few members for their posts and message replies regarding the road cuts, I couldn't have done this trip without them. I took off at 7 AM towards Oglesby. Here's the map, if you look at Oglesby on Google maps the location here should come together: Once you're there, it's basically a free for all. You are searching through the LaSalle Limestone Member of the Bond Formation which houses Pennsylvanian fossils. There are brachiopods everywhere you look which crumble down the hill and expose new matrix. Here are some of the Linoproductus I took home: I'll make another post for the second road cut

My friend found this near a parking lot just outside of Chicago in Lisle, IL. Any idea of what it is? Looks a little like the shape of a tooth to me. Thanks!

Hey everybody! I realized I never made a thread for my internship at the Field Museum in Chicago this summer. I interned as a fossil preparator under Akiko Shinya in the McDonald’s Fossil Preparation Laboratory (that’s the “fish bowl” lab on the second floor right next to Evolving Planet with the big window). There were some amazing things being prepared in the lab - an Antarctic Lystrosaurus, lots of Dicynodonts, Green River fish (some massive Phareodus), Sauropod femurs and ribs, a massive slab containing several sturgeon and paddlefish - but I’m not sure if I am allowed to post pictures of them, so for the sake of confidentiality I won’t just in case. This is the lab, and I always sat in the red chair, right up next to the window. One of my favorite parts of this internship was seeing all the little kids so excited about what we were doing in there and interacting with them. I was preparing a Priscacara serrata (specimen PF 16961) from the Green River formation of Wyoming, Eocene (~52 mya). All I used was a pin vise and an Amscope stereoscope. This fish also seemed to have slightly “exploded” from the pressure of fossilization as well, it’s jaw was crooked and head smashed, thought most fins seemed surprisingly well intact. The prep took 199.5 hours to complete, from May to August. I finished the prep on the final day of my internship, staying late after the museum had closed to the public and all the others in the lab had gone home. But it was far worth it, because "your name will forever be associated with this specimen." -Akiko Shinya I took a picture at the end of every day and I made a time lapse with it to see the growth! The link is at the bottom of the post. (I kept that floating scale in front of its mouth because I thought it was kind of funny that it looked like the fish was trying to eat it!) You can watch the time lapse Here

Today I went with the Grandkid to the Field Museum of Natural History to see Jurassic World and check out some of their fossils- Hope that you enjoy the below photo tour. JURASSIC WORLD-

I just visited Field Museum in Chicago for the Member’s Nights, and I made sure to take pictures to share! During Member’s Night you’re allowed into the bowels of the museum where non-displayed items are held, along with several fun and interesting mini-exhibit/activities/booths. On the third floor, many of the paleontology department were displaying their personal favorite fossils! These next few will be from there.

Hi all! Well, I'm excited to say that my husband and I will be traveling to Chicago for a weekend in April - yay!!! I'll be on my own on Saturday, April 13 while he attends Star Wars Celebration. He suggested that I go for spa treatments, but I said that there are better ways for me to spend the day - I can get spa treatments anywhere, but this will be my first time in Chicago!!! So, I was wondering, is there any chance of finding fossils in the city, perhaps somewhere along the lake shore? And if not, are there any other suggestions for what I can do to pass the morning/afternoon while my husband is nerding out at the convention? Thanks for your help! Monica

Recently went in a trip to the Field Museum in Chicago where they had two new exhibits showcased: Antarctica dinosaurs and their new dinosaur, Patagotitan. Here are some pictures of the insanely massive sauropod nicknamed Maximo. This skeleton is just a replica, however they do have a few authentic bones on display: In the pictures you may also notice a life-size Quetzolacanthus hovering in the corner.

...for the Field Museum in Chicago is an impressively large completely cast model of a huge titanosaur. You may remember seeing the David Attenborough BBC documentary back in 2016 called David Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur (allusions to James and the Giant Peach?) The special covers the discovery, reconstruction and display of a new species named Patagotitan mayorum, a 37 meter long beast (not surprisingly) from the Patagonia region of Argentina. Bones from several individuals were found at the site and it seems that the Field Museum must have purchased a few actual bones to be displayed alongside of the cast model. The cast was made by the same company that created one for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. There, the giant titanosaur is apparently a bit too big for its home in the AMNH and had to be carefully configured to fit into the available space. The main central area with in the Field Museum, known as Stanley Field Hall, has plenty of space for this new cast to stretch out into without feeling cramped. This 122 foot long cast at the Field Museum has been named "Máximo" in reference to it's Argentinian heritage. This space was previously occupied by Sue the (in)famous Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton which was the talk of the town when it finally debuted back in 2000 (10 years after its initial discovery). Sue is moving to her own room up on the upper floor of the museum in an exhibit to open sometime in 2019. They will be making some anatomical changes and modifying the mount to show Sue in a less crouching pose. Unlike Sue (which was a relatively complete skeleton), Máximo is 100% cast. Due to the weight restrictions limiting mounting options, Sue's head was removed (ouch!) and replaced with a properly inflated head cast on the mount that was mostly otherwise composed of actual bones. Sue's head a bit crushed on one side was originally presented in a separate display where visitors could get a closer look at the actual bones. Since this titanosaur will not feature any actual precious bones, the museum is looking at making the cast more accessible (i.e. "touchable") with a ground level display rather than a raised and cordoned-off display stand. This will inevitably lead to a rash of titano-selfies in the coming months. When we visited, the mount had just been completed and whatever stand will go with the completed display had not yet been added. The few actual bones were on a simple display showing approximate placements that was tucked into a forlorn looking corner next to the full cast model. As this work had just recently been completed the new additions did not have the informational displays that will likely accompany this new exhibit in the coming months as the dust settles on this dinosaurian swap-out. The way they mounted the next of this huge titanosaur has it peering into the second floor balcony some 28 feet above. This was intentionally done to give people a close-up look at Máximo tooth-studded "smiling" face. I'm sure people will be hanging over the balcony edge for selfies from this angle. They've already tried to head this off by putting warnings on the ledge at this point cautioning against sitting, standing or leaning out over the ledge but I'm sure it is only a matter of time before someone puts themselves in the running for a Darwin Award for their selfie attempt. I have mixed feelings about this recent Sue-swap which was done this year to coincide with the museum's 125th anniversary. Maybe I'm a purist but I tend to like dinosaur mounts that are (at least partially) composed of actual bones. Understandably, it tends not to be possible to have 100% real fossil bone displays (even from a composite of multiple individuals) but the fact that Máximo is simply the second in a (limited) series of entirely cast bones makes me have to appreciate the display as an (expensive) model rather than as a rare well-preserved actual fossils. The fact that Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk could (conceivably) commission additional copies for their closest friends as ostentatious Christmas gifts this year somehow puts Máximo in a different class in my mind from Sue--maybe it's just me. The non-unique and reproducible nature of Máximo's cast does however allow people to interact more personally with this new huge dinosaur in a way different from the more isolated reverence of Sue's exhibit. I just hope people take away more than just silly selfies from their interaction with Máximo. Here are a few photos of Máximo in his new home. You can see how the mount was staged to allow the perspective from the upper level balcony. You might recognize someone in the second photo who was told that he needed to pose for a selfie with Máximo's left front leg. I've also included photos of the few actual bones which will hopefully receive some interest as well once they are more properly displayed. Cheers. -Ken

Currently up in the Chicago area visiting with family and getting ready to start a bucket-list trip out to Iceland for a couple of weeks. While driving through downtown Chicago along Lake Shore Drive we passed the Field Museum of Natural History which was one of my favorite haunts when I lived in Chicago when I was younger. I noticed the banners for Máximo the new Patagonian titanosaur (Patagotitan mayorum) which displaced Sue the T-rex from the main floor to her own room in the upper floor of the museum. I decided that it had been years since I'd visited the Field Museum and I needed to make the pilgrimage for my birthday. I'll try to make a post a bit later with a few of the photos that I took during the visit. So much to see and I only went for part of a day to see some of the fossil and mineral exhibits. I noticed one of several "MOLD-A-RAMA" plastic injection molding machines strategically located around the museum. These were a favorite souvenir as a kid (I think I had all of the various shapes). I spotted the one with the Apatosaurus in a Kelly green reminiscent of the old Sinclair dinosaur (named 'Dino' and pronounced 'DYE-no'). https://www.sinclairoil.com/dino-history I decided it was worth the three bucks to buy myself a birthday present and so I swiped my credit card (a modern retrofit of this machine dating from the early 1960's when it cost but a quarter) and in moments produced my very own mini-Apatosaurus. The novelty being that I probably had one of these made on this very same machine when I was a kid--likely some 40-45 years ago. I think this is one of my favorite birthday presents I've had for some time (even if I had to buy it for myself). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mold-A-Rama http://mold-a-rama.com/ The more things change, the more some things stay the same--it's nice to have a small speck of constancy in this modern world were progress dooms the latest inventions and must-have items to a short lifespan sometimes measured in months. The MOLD-A-RAMA looks to have enjoyed only a rather regional bit of popularity but I hope this may bring back a bit of nostalgia to some TFF members from the area. Cheers. -Ken

The Field Museum has revealed the name of the new titanosaur that is being installed in Stanley Field Hall in the next few weeks. His scientific name is Patagotitan mayorum. He lived about 100 million years ago in what is now Patagonia, Argentina. The spanish word maximo translates to "maximum" or "most" in English. This name references his massive size! The largest dinosaur ever discovered is on his way to the Field Museum and we can't wait for you to meet him. Our giant pre-historic friend, Máximo the Titanosaur, will make his debut at the museum this June. This tremendous titan weighed about 70 tons, roughly as much as 10 African elephants. Máximo is about 122 feet in length. To put that in Chicago terms, he’s as long as two accordion CTA buses. Máximo’s head will reach the second-story balcony, perfect for selfies! https://www.fieldmuseum.org/about/press/biggest-dinosaur-ever-discovered-coming-field-museum-2018-thanks-gift-kenneth-c-griffin

Hi everyone: Just got back from my first trip to Mazon Creek, and my concretions are currently in the freezer. I've recently become obsessed with all things evolution and fossils. I just want to absorb and learn as much from you all as I can.

Hi from the near-Chicago suburbs! Like others, it seems, we found inspiration at a recent visit to The Field Museum. Despite multiple visits, we'd never noticed the Mazon Creek section until recently as we often rush the Evolving Planet exhibit to get to the Jurassic Period. Any tips on how to search and weed through the incredible information here (thank you to everyone who shares--wow!), or tips for fossil hunting with kids at Mazonia-Braidwood, are welcome. We have low expectations, but still like to be prepared. Perhaps we'll bump into some of you next month when the season opens.

I’m looking at getting my first Air scribe. There’s the obvious choice of Kens, although they are rather expensive, the second choice is the Chicago cp9361. It’s cheaper from a local tool supplier but wanting know if anybody uses it and can vouch for it, just don’t want to go spending without the information. Any help would be seriously appreciated. Thanks, Dan.

A mini fossil museum exists within the lobby of the Park Hyatt in Chicago, just off Michigan Avenue. I'm guessing not too many people know about it unless they're guests at the hotel. It's a wonderful display of very large Moroccan trilobites, ammonites and various other fossils from around the world. It is free, of course, because it's in the lobby and a nice diversion if you're ever in the area. Another added bonus is it's open 24 hours.

Hey everyone! Last August I took a trip to Chicago and, of course, went to The Field Museum. It's quite impressive and absolutely worth visiting. All exhibitions I was able to see were awesome. My favorite part was the dinosaur room, though the most famous skeleton is in the main hall. Let's start with some pictures of Sue - the most complete T-Rexskeleton ever found. The skull mounted to the bod, isn't the actual skull found with the skeleton. The original skull is exhibited on the first floor and wasn't add to the body, because it was kinda squeezed (you can read all about it at the museum). There's also another bone section of Sue displayed on first floor, right next to the fossil lab, where you see paleontologists working (it's like staring at animals at the zoo, but very interesting haha). Scientists still try to figure out, how these bones match to Sue's skeleton. Close to the displayed shown above, is the entrence to the dinosaur room. While making your way to the hall, you're passing several exhibits, arranged in a timeline. To me themost interesting exhibt was the Dimetrodon skeleton. My first ever dinosaur book, contained a picture of it, so it wasawesome to see it in person after so many years. Once you entered the room, you see impressive exhibts of several herbivores. To your left you find a Stegosaurus: In the middle of the room is a huge Apatosaurus: On the opposite you have Triceratops: Sorry, forgot the name of this boy, eating a Edmontosaurus: Next to the shown exhibit, you can see a Parasaurolophus: AND there's also a juvenile Edmontosaurus:

Hello, new to fossil hunting. I have a small collection of dino teeth courtesy of ebay but I hope to dig up my own someday. Currently in the quality city of Chicago... Struggling artist going back to school to study geology and earth sciences, basically trying to fulfill a childhood dream way too late. The last ten years have been simply unproductive... Anyways, Reading some of the topics here, I feel like I can learn a lot from you guys. I post drawings on my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thin.the.herd/ I've drawn haunted houses, demons, ghosts and monsters but I'm slowly going into a strange paleoart direction lately and I plan on making a series of unique scenes involving prehistoric animals (or things resembling prehistoric animals).