Author Archives: Mark Wilson

BRIDGEND, WALES (June 23, 2015) — My train journey yesterday was successful. It was close, but I made the four tight connections and arrived in Aberystwyth, Wales, from Thurso, Scotland, on schedule. It took 15 hours. My friend Tim Palmer … Continue reading →
Continue reading →

THURSO, SCOTLAND (June 22, 2015) — Back to the trains today as I leave for a long journey south through Scotland and central England and then west to Aberystwyth, Wales, to spend some quality field time with my friend Tim … Continue reading →
Continue reading →

STROMNESS, SCOTLAND (June 21, 2015) — I intended to explore the region around Stromness today as I waited for the late afternoon ferry to Thurso, but it rained continuously. Since I can’t afford to get my meager kit wet while … Continue reading →
Continue reading →

STROMNESS, SCOTLAND (June 20, 2015) — After our last sessions of talks in the 2015 Larwood Symposium, we had a guided tour of some spectacular Neolithic sites on the island of Mainland in Orkney. (I know, an island called Mainland. … Continue reading →
Continue reading →

THURSO, SCOTLAND (June 19, 2015) — After meeting in the morning for our 2015 Larwood Symposium, most of the participants then went on a field trip in the region around Thurso in the Caithness district, northern Scotland. Above is a … Continue reading →
Continue reading →

THURSO, SCOTLAND (June 18, 2015) — My long train trip from Scarborough was successful yesterday. I arrived in the dark (or what passes for darkness this far north) and had a long walk from the train station to my hotel. … Continue reading →
Continue reading →

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 →
Continue reading →

Paul Taylor and I presented a talk this month at the Larwood Symposium of the International Bryozoology Association in Thurso, Scotland. (Yes, way in the tippy-top of Scotland. Very cool.) Paul found the above wiggly bryozoan encrusting the interior of … Continue reading →
Continue reading →

Three years ago I had a short and painful trip to China to meet my new colleague and friend Yongli Zhang (Department of Geology, Northeastern University, Shenyang). The China part was great; the pain was from an unfortunately-timed kidney stone … Continue reading →
Continue reading →

I collected this lump of a specimen during my dissertation research in the Bird Spring Formation (Carboniferous-Permian) of southern Nevada. It was found in a richly-fossiliferous Upper Carboniferous (Moscovian) portion near Mountain Springs Pass, which is about 40 km southwest … Continue reading →
Continue reading →