Mazon Creek Fossil Fauna
Curiosities
Possible bryozoan - Milwaukee Public Museum collection (positive and negative halves)
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A large arthropod leg - Milwaukee Public Museum collection VP359401
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Two specimens, possibly acorn worms (Mazoglossus ramsdelli), Pit 11, Braidwood, IL - A.Young collection
Schizodus cf. wheeleri bivalve looking like a Convexicaris mazonensis flea shrimp - MPM P360490
Possible Coprinoscolex ellogimus echiuran with everted proposcis - R.Rock collection
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Above and below: a large arthropod leg (possibly Arthropleura cristata), Mazon River, Morris, IL - A.Young collection
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Above and below: a large arthropod plate (possibly Arthropleura cristata), Mazon River, Morris, IL - M.Angkuw collection
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Found by old-timer collector Clay Davis at Pit 11 near Braidwood, Illinois, this specimen was originally labeled a "lamprey" and later became part of the Richard Rock collection. It appears to have eye spots and thus attracted my attention in the fossil drawers. In 2023, the specimen was loaned to Dr. Victoria McCoy at the U. of Wisconsin for study and, among other analyses, was examined with a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The eye spots turned out to not have identifiable melanosomes (indicating pigment), and it was determined that this form is either a plant fragment or some unknown animal. At present, no additional information is available, and so it remains a mystery - and a curiosity.
A strange, alien-looking proboscis - J.Wittry collection (positive and negative halves)
A worm, a fish, or eggs? (4 cm) - J.Wittry collection
A spider-like shrimp molt, Pit 11, Braidwood, IL - P.Anderson collection
This specimen appears to be a section (4 cm) of a large insect wing - J.Wittry collection
Indeterminate worm-like animal, showing pigment / internal organs, Pit 11, Braidwood, IL - A.Young collection