Field Museum of Natural History

309 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs, the area around Chicago was a swampy river delta swarmed with early land-dwellers, giant insects, and strange swimming animals. What once was a hot bed for new forms of life to flourish and evolve, became one of today’s richest Carboniferous period fossil deposits. Two student-scientists from the Field Museum have just described the latest animal discovered at this location—and they named it after their mothers, who both happen to be named Jean.

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