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Checkout "Fright at the Field", open at the Field Museum from October 28th to 30th, 2026. Spooky season has arrived at the Field Museum! Join us for Fright at the Field, a Halloween experience featuring the return of Underground MISadventure, and Halloween Harvest Maze, a new spooky takeover of Plants of the World. Plus, explore the Museum to find seven creepy-cool specimens, like Witch’s Hat Fungus and the Vampire Bat, to complete Chompy’s Secret Lair challenge to win a special prize!

Charles Knight was born on October 21st, 1874. That would make him 152 today. Unfortunately, he passed away on April 15th, 1953 at the age of 78. Knight was an American wildlife and paleoartist during the early 1900s. He is probably best known for his many detailed paintings of dinosaurs and prehistoric life created for multiple major museums in the United States. The Field Museum has an interesting Photo Archive page about Charles Knight.

Today is National Fossil Day! Have a look at the National Park Service website for more information. The Field Museum will be doing their annual event... and it's a free day! During 2026 we will celebrate the 17th National Fossil Day!  Join paleontologists, educators, and students in fossil-related events and activities across the country in parks, classrooms, and online during National Fossil Day.  

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For the October General Meeting, we are doing something new. Lazaro Vinola from The Field Museum presented live from the field in the Dominican Republic. For this meeting, Lazaro’s team will be processing sediment for microfossils. During the first half of the trip, they will stay at a small motel in the town of Oviedo, in the town of Pedernales.

Recently, Matt Brown, McCarter Collections Manager, Fossil Vertebrates at the Field Museum, showed me a book that is special on several levels.

For the October General Meeting, we are doing something new. Lazaro Vinola from The Field Museum will be presenting live from the field in the Dominican Republic. Earlier this year, you may recall Lazaro found a Tully Monster on his first visit to Pit 11. We used the fossil for Fossil Friday #319. For this meeting, Lazaro’s team will be processing sediment for microfossils.

The Mazon Creek fossil biota has a new member... a vertebrate, which are rare. Jeanerpeton mazonensis, which means "Jean’s crawler from Mazon Creek", was named by two student-scientists from the Field Museum. The name honors their mothers, who are both named Jean.

Dos estudiantes ayudaron a identificar Jeanerpeton mazonensis, un anfibio fósil de 309 millones de años oculto durante décadas en un museo de Chicago.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Eons (@eonsshow) PBS Eons posted this video a few days ago on Instagram. In making Life and Death on Pangea, not only did we get to tell the story of one of the most dramatic times in Earth's history, but we got visit places that were dreams come true for our natural-history-loving hearts! ⁠