Paleontology in Illinois
Paleontological research in the U.S. state of Illinois / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Paleontology in Illinois refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Illinois. Scientists have found that Illinois was covered by a sea during the Paleozoic Era. Over time this sea was inhabited by animals including brachiopods, clams, corals, crinoids, sea snails, sponges, and trilobites.
Fossils are common from the Ordovician through the Pennsylvanian. Illinois has a reputation for rocks bearing large numbers of trilobite fossils, often of very high preservational quality.[1] There is a gap in Illinois' geologic record from the Mesozoic to the Pleistocene. During the Ice Age, Illinois was subject to glacial activity. At the time the state was home to creatures like giant beavers, mammoths, mastodons, and stag mooses.
Paleontology has a long history in the State of Illinois, stretching at least as far back as the 1850s, when the first Mazon Creek fossils were being found. Early in the ensuing 20th century a Silurian age fossil reef system was discovered in the state. In the 1950s Francis Tully discovered the "monster" that would later be named in his honor. The Pennsylvanian species Tullimonstrum gregarium ("Tully Monster") is the Illinois state fossil. It is one of the few officially designated state fossils that is endemic to the state it represents.