Private Collection Publications and Figured Specimens
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Below is an illustrated list of primarily Douglass Collection specimens studied and figured in publications. Beginning with the family's relationship to Dr. Richardson and the Field Museum in the 1960s, numerous species have been described with the Douglass name - others figured - and many of these fossils are presently housed and on display in their Prehistoric Life Museum (711 Main St., Evanston, Illinois). Since I started to work as the museum's collection manager in 2023, new collaborations have begun with researchers interested in rare and exquisite examples from the Carboniferous Period (Mississippian and Pennsylvanian), and a partnership formed with the Lauer Foundation for Paleontology, Science and Education with a focus on Illinois Mazon Creek fossils. Many more projects are underway and will get posted here as the resulting papers are published. (Note: scale bars = 1cm.)
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2025 - New Exhibit at The Field Museum, Chicago
After the Age of Dinosaurs is a new exhibition at the Field Museum of Chicago opening August 29, 2025 (and closing January 3, 2027). The show explores what happened after the dinosaurs went extinct, when life on Earth dramatically changed, diversified, and evolved in surprising ways. The fossil skull to the right will be on display.
Grande, L. 1980. Paleontology of the Green River Formation, with a Review of the Fish Fauna, The Geological Survey of Wyoming, Bulletin 63, page 202, Figure III.11b.
https://www.wsgs.wyo.gov/products/wsgs-1984-b-63 |
Crocodylomorpha - Tsoabichi greenriverensis
Green River Formation caiman skull, donated by the Douglass Collection to the Field Museum in 2024. |
Crocodylomorpha is a group of pseudosuchian archosaurs that includes the crocodilians and their extinct relatives. They were the only members of Pseudosuchia to survive the end-Triassic extinction. Extinct crocodylomorphs were considerably more ecologically diverse than modern crocodilians.
Euproops danae horseshoe crab parts in a lungfish bromalite (likely a regurgitalite) - Pit 9, Dresden Lakes, IL
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2025 - Mazon Creek horseshoe crabs in bromalites
Bicknell, R.D.C., Kimmig, J., Young, A., Lauer, B., Lauer, R., McCoy, V.E. 2025. Mazon Creek bromalites evidence a specialized, xiphosaurid-rich diet for Pennsylvanian predators. PALAIOS, vol. 40, pp. 215-221.
https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2025.013 Four specimens (originally thought to be coprolites) containing crushed Euproops danae horseshoe crab exoskeletons were donated to the Lauer Foundation for the purpose of this study. Three were from the Douglass Collection - DLD 2496, 2502, and 3930 - and one came from the Andrew Young Collection (AY 2771). These are now LF 7282 (left), 7283, 7284, and 7285, respectively.
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2025 - Bear Gulch cyclid aggregations
Bicknell, R.D.C., Klompmaker, A.A., Edgecombe, G.D., McCoy, V.E., Young, A., Lauer, B., Lauer, R., and Cuomo, C. 2025. Gregarious behaviour in Carboniferous cyclidan crustaceans. Biology Letters, vol. 21, pp. 1-7.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0734 Crustacean aggregations in the fossil record are very rare,
and before this specimen was discovered and examined, the only known example of multiple Bear Gulch (Carboniferous) individuals on a plate counted four. This extraordinary example contains 50, and probably represents a mass molting or sheltering event preserved by rapid burial. |
Schramine montanaensis cyclids from the Bear Gulch limestone: Late Mississippian in age (325 to 318 mya).
This exceptional Douglass Collection specimen - DLD 5474 - was acquired by the Lauer Foundation for the purpose of this study and is now LF 7078. |
Douglassarachne acanthopoda holotype
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2024 - New Mazon Creek spider-like arachnid
Selden, P.A. and Dunlop, J.A. 2024. A remarkable spiny arachnid from the Pennsylvanian Mazon Creek Lagerstätte, Illinois. Journal of Paleontology, Cambridge University Press. Figs. 2-3, pp. 1-7.
https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2024.13 Douglass Collection DLD 4137. One half of this specimen was donated to the Field Museum of Natural History and is now FMNH PE91366. The other half is on display in the Douglass Prehistoric Life Museum at Dave's Rock Shop, Evanston, Illinois, USA. This Mazon Creek spiny arachnid is so unusual that assignment to a proper Taxonomic Order remains elusive. At this point, it remains incertae sedis (or "of uncertain placement") until more examples are found and studied.
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2023 - New Mazon Creek hagfish
McCoy, V.E., Wittry, J., Sadabadi, H., and Mayer, P. 2023. A reappraisal of Nemavermes mackeei from
the Mazon Creek fossil site expands Carboniferous cyclostome diversity. Journal of Paleontology, Cambridge University Press, Figs. 1,6, pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2023.72 Found by Dave Douglass in two parts in different years,
the fossil was photographed and studied by Dr. Eugene Richardson in the late 1960s who originally called the fossil a "nudibranch." It was acquired by the Lauer Foundation for this study and is now LF 5664. |
Squirmarius testai cyclostome: for years on display at
the Douglass Prehistoric Life Museum (DLD 204) and mislabeled Gilpichthys greenei, a known species of jawless fish. |
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2020 - Mazon Creek Fossil Flora Book
Wittry, J. 2020. A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek. Bledig, J.M., Young, A. (eds.) Earth Science Club
of Northern Illinois (ESCONI). Fig. 10, p. 100. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339386593_A_Comprehensive_Guide_to_the_Fossil_Flora_of_Mazon_Creek 
Douglass Crenulopteris subcrenulata fern: 1/2 donated to FMNH (PP51104)
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2012 - Mazon Creek Fossil Fauna Book
Wittry, J. 2012. The Mazon Creek Fossil Fauna. Bledig, J.M., Young, A. (eds.) Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois (ESCONI), front cover image, Figs. xx.1, 47.1, 49.1, 117.3, 118.3-4, 130.2-3, 131.3-4, 136.2, 145.2-3, 146.3, 169.1.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270823603_The_Mazon_Creek_Fossil_Fauna Douglass Collection catalog numbers in order of the figures below (left to right, top to bottom): DLD 189, 4135, 226, 188, 1744, 516, 4133, 4140, 264, FMNH PR5055, 515, and 221.
Note: the undescribed tetrapod on the bottom left was donated to the Field Museum in 2021 for study and description. It has the new number of FMNH PE5055 and will eventually be named after the Douglass family.
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Mischoptera douglassi holotype, Fig. xx.1
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Amphicentrum orbiculare fish, book cover
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Kottixerxes gloriosus arthropod, Fig. 47.1
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Jeletzkya douglassae holotype, Fig. 118.4
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Euphoberia sp. millipede, Fig. 49.1
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Wiedeyoceras sp. cephalopod, Fig. 117.3
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Bandringa herdinae, Fig. 131.3
(now accommodated by B. rayi) |
Conchopoma edesi lungfish, Fig. 136.2
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Bandringa rayi shark, Fig. 130.3
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Undescribed tetrapod, Fig. 145.3
(mis-ID'd as Amphibamus grandiceps) |
Phlegethontia longissima, Fig. 146.3
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Illilepas damrowi barnacle attached to a myalinid bivalve, Fig. 169.1
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2004 - Mazon Creek newspaper article
Sula, M. 2004. The Vanishing Mother Lode of Mazon Creek. Chicago Reader, Friday, July 2, Vol. 33, no. 40, pp. 1, 14-15. 18-20, 22-23.
https://chicagoreader.com/news/the-vanishing-mother-lode-of-mazon-creek 
David Douglass at Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop, page 22.
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This 2004 article in the Chicago Reader is what made me aware of the world-famous site (in paleontology, a Konservat-Lagerstätte, or deposit with exceptional fossil preservation). The following year was my first collecting at the celebrated Pit 11.
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Holmacanthus keithi shark holotype, Fig. 18.15
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1997 - New Mazon Creek Shark
Bardack, D. in Zangerl, R. 1997. Cartilaginous Fishes (Chondrichthyes), Richardson’s Guide to the Fossil Fauna of Mazon Creek. C. W. Shabica and A. A. Hay (eds.), Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago.
Figs. 18.15, 18.16. pp. 253–255. https://archive.org/details/richardsonsguide0000unse Douglass Collection DLD 581. Note: one half of this specimen is housed in the Field Museum (FMNH PF14309) and the other half is on display in the Douglass Prehistoric Life Museum.
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Type, Figured, and Referred Specimens from Private Collections
Carman, Mary R. 1990. Catalog of Type, Figured, and Referred Mazon Creek Fossils in Private Collections. Fieldiana Geology, February 28,
Field Museum of Natural History Publication1407, No. 19, pp. 7-8. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/3448 At the time of this publication, there were eight Douglass Collection specimens listed; most of them are indicated on this web page. The only missing fossil is a Douglass Titanoscorpio douglassi paratype that was part of the species description in Kjelleswig-Waering's 1986 catalog, A Re-study of the Fossil Scorpionida of the World
(p. 240, text-figs. 108A-E). I'm still searching for the fossil. |
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Buthiscorpius lemayi scorpion holotype
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1986 - New Mazon Creek Scorpion
Kjellesvig-Waering, E.N. 1986. A Restudy of the Fossil Scorpionida of the World. Palaeontographica Americana, March 18, No. 55, Buthiscorpius lemayi, pp. 102-105.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28877537#page/107/mode/1up Douglass Collection DLD 180. Note: the above catalog was published in 1986, seven years after Kjellesvig-Waering's passing. The specimen was found in 1971 at coal strip mine Pit 6 in Coal City, Illinois, and acquired by Dave Douglass for the Prehistoric Life Museum.
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1986 - Another New Mazon Creek Scorpion
Kjellesvig-Waering, E.N. 1986. A Restudy of the Fossil Scorpionida of the World. Palaeontographica Americana, March 18, No. 55, Titanoscorpio douglassi, pp. 240-242.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28877537#page/245/mode/1up
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Titanoscorpio douglassi scorpion claw holotype,
on display at the Prehistoric Life Museum. |
Gerarus vetus - Mazon Creek insect, Scudder 1885
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1983 - Cataloging Carboniferous Insects
Burnham, L. 1983. Studies on Upper Carboniferous Insects: 1. The Geraridae (Order Protorthoptera) Psyche: A Journal of Entomology, January 1, Vol. 90, No. 14, Issues 1-2, pp. 1-57.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1155/1983/42898 Douglass Collection DLD 4150 (178) is currently on display at the Prehistoric Life Museum along with associated drawings. The order Protorthoptera is considered a “wastebasket taxon” and a temporary category used to classify early, primitive winged insects that could not be placed in any modern lineage. Most were described from isolated fossilized wings that definitely need revision.
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Riodinella nympha Raydome butterfly 3 holotype
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1978 - New Eocene Butterfly
Durden, C.J., Rose, H. 1978. Butterflies from the Middle Eocene: The Earliest Occurrence of Fossil Papilionoidea (Lepidoptera). Pearce-Sellards Series No. 29, Texas Memorial Museum, University of Texas at Austin,
Figs. 4, 5, 6E, 6F, pp. 17-21. https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/items/eba1f3e1-71b8-41ca-bdbc-e4d057d9350e Fig. 4. Riodinella nympha n.g., n.sp., HOLOTYPE, Raydome butterfly No. 3a (David Douglass, Prehistoric Life Museum Collection); Fig. 5: No. 3b (Black Hills Minerals Collection).
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1977 - New Mazon Creek Jawless Fish
Bardack D. and Richardson, Eugene S. 1977. New Agnathous Fishes from the Pennsylvanian of Illinois. Fieldiana Geology, June 23, Field Museum of Natural History, Publication 1261, Vol. 33, No. 26, pp. 497-508.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/5167 This Douglass Collection specimen (DLD 5196) was loaned to Dr. Richardson at the Field Museum in the mid-1970s. After 50 years, it was found in a the back of a cabinet and recently returned to Dave Douglass. With new interest and available technologies, this fossil is now out on loan again for further research on this hagfish species.
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Gilpichthys greenei cyclostome; referred specimen in Bardack.
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Pipiscius zangerli cyclostome, figured on page 491.
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1977 - Another New Mazon Creek Jawless Fish
Bardack D. and Richardson, Eugene S. 1977. New Agnathous Fishes from the Pennsylvanian of Illinois. Fieldiana Geology, June 23, Field Museum of Natural History, Publication 1261, Vol. 33, No. 26, pp. 490-497, Fig 3.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/5167 Douglass Collection DLD 604 is on display at the Prehistoric Life Museum. The species, now in the superclass Cyclostomata, has a characteristic circular mouth and is considered a lamprey.
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1975 - Mazon Creek Conchopoma Lungfish
Schultze, H.-P. 1975. Die Lungenfisch-Gattung Conchopoma (pisces, Dipnoi). Senkenbergiana lethaea, Vol. 56, pp. 191–231, referred p. 214
Douglass Collection DLD 517 - referred specimen, on display
at the Prehistoric Life Museum, Evanston, Illinois. The species' long pectoral fins are thought to have been used for "walking" on the riverbed or other substrate, suggesting how the first tetrapods may have transitioned from water to land. |
Conchopoma edesi lungfish, described by Denison, 1969
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Mischoptera douglassi insect nymph holotype - DLD 189
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1968 - New Mazon Creek Insect Nymph
Carpenter, F. M. and Richardson, Eugene S. 1968. Megasecopterous Nymphs in Pennsylvanian Concretions from Illinois. Psyche: A Journal of Entomology, December, Vol. 75, No. 4, pp. 295–309;
page 301, text-Fig. 2, plates, 24, 25, 27. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/207022 Found by Lincoln E. Douglass at Northern Illinois Coal Company Pit 6, near the Grundy-Will County line, Illinois.
At the time of its description, researchers called it “the most important fossil insect ever found.” Now on display at the Douglass Prehistoric Life Museum. |
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1968 - New Mazon Creek Cephalopod
Species Description
Johnson, R.G. and Richardson, Eugene S. 1968. Ten Armed Fossil Cephalopod from the Pennsylvanian of Illinois. Science, February 2, Vol. 159, Issue 3814, pp. 526-528.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.159.3814.52 1979 - Species Re-evaluation
Saunders, W.B. and Richardson, E.S. 1979. Middle Pennsylvlanian (Desmoinesean) Cephalopoda of the Mazon Creek fauna, northeastern Illinois. Mazon Creek Fossils, Nitecki M.H. (ed.), p. 351, text-fig. 8.
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/411743 The above describes a new find attributed to Jeletzkya, which, along with the holotype, provides more insight into its morphology, including a radula, arm hooks, mantle debris, and ink.
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Jeletzkya douglassae cephalopod holotype
Douglass Collection DLD 188 - currently on display at the Prehistoric Life Museum - found by and named for June L. Douglass. Locality: South Wilmington Sportsmen’s Club, Peabody Coal Company Pit 11, Essex, Illinois. |
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Copyright © 2021 Andrew Young. All specimen images on this page and in the fossil galleries may be protected by copyright. They are presented here in accordance with fair use principles and are only being used for informational and educational purposes. They may not be republished electronically or in print without the written consent of the individuals and institutions who have lent them here.
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