Richardson's Guide to the Fossil Fauna of Mazon Creek

The Mazon Creek biota of northeastern Illinois provides the most complete record known of late Paleozoic life, consisting of more than 200 plant and 300 animal species. This guide offers a comprehensive, systematic account of the animal fossils from the Mazon Creek area. Discussion of the discovery and unearthing of the Mazon Creek area is followed by discussion of coal mining and fossil collecting and a review of the current state of our knowledge of the geologic and environmental setting and geologic distribution. Individual chapters that follow deal with the fossil groups represented in the Mazon Creek biota, with emphasis placed on detailed b&w photographs and representative drawings of fossil species. Contributions range from accessible prose to detailed scientific descriptions. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.