Author Archives: Mark Wilson

DONEGAL, IRELAND — Above is an image of Donegal Bay at sunset. It is striking with its still water, wheeling gulls and glacially-rounded rocky islands. I am in County Donegal for a couple of days simply to see the place … Continue reading →
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DUBLIN, IRELAND — I have paleontological legends on either side of me, and the best of friends. Paul Taylor is on the left. He and I met in 1985 when I visited The Natural History Museum in London while on … Continue reading →
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Editor’s Note: The post below was written in December 2012 about a purported bryozoan found in Cambrian rocks. This would have been a major find because bryozoans, a major fossilized phylum, were notably missing from the Cambrian record, despite … Continue reading →

DUBLIN, IRELAND — What could be more Irish than a rainbow over Dublin? (I know better than to write of leprechauns and pots of gold.)  It certainly crowned the end of a delightful afternoon spent with my friend Tim Palmer … Continue reading →
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This week’s fossil is from close to home. In fact, it sit in my office. The above is a trace fossil named Petroxestes pera. It was produced on a carbonate hardground by a mytilacean bivalve known as Modiolopsis (shown below). … Continue reading →
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DUBLIN, IRELAND — In a very quick transition from grading final exams in Wooster yesterday morning, I find myself now in downtown Dublin. I flew in last night to attend the 56th Annual Meeting of the Paleontological Association. I’ve been … Continue reading →
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This week’s fossil is a very common one from the Whitewater Formation (Richmondian, Upper Ordovician) exposed near Richmond, Indiana. It was collected, along with hundreds of other specimens, during one of many Invertebrate Paleontology field trips to an outcrop along … Continue reading →
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This week’s set of exquisite fossils is presented in honor of Andrew Retzler (’11) who has just had his Senior Independent Study thesis at Wooster published in the journal Cretaceous Research: “Chondrichthyans from the Menuha Formation (Late Cretaceous: Santonian–Early Campanian) … Continue reading →
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This simple, rounded fossil with tiny holes on its surface is the trepostome bryozoan Prasopora falesi (James, 1884) from the Middle Ordovician Galena Group of eastern Iowa. It was collected with dozens of others on an Independent Study field trip &#82… Continue reading →

Isn’t this amazing preservation? This fossil crab, which we received as a donation a few years ago, is Macrophthalmus latreillei (Desmarest, 1822) from the Pleistocene of northern Australia. It is virtually identical to its modern counterpart of … Continue reading →