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The world's best-preserved fossils are right outside Chicago: But there are no dinosaur bones at Mazon Creek

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Summary
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85% Informative

Mazon Creek fossil beds in Illinois contain the world's best-preserved, most diverse fossils.

They date back 309 million years , way before the age of dinosaurs , to the Carboniferous period.

The Field Museum is collaborating with amateur fossil hunters to find new specimens.

Mazon Creek fossils offer a snapshot in time from hundreds of millions of years ago.

Fossils in the Illinois area are just limited to this one area.

The Field Museum hopes to find the missing stage between the anatomies of primitive amphibians and modern ones.

Paleontologists also visit surrounding areas in the Little Egypt region around Cairo , Cairo in southern Illinois .

It's about the intersection between private collectors, amateur paleontologists and professionals, and working together synergistically to unveil the natural history data here—and getting kids hooked on fossils when they're young." 2025 Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency , LLC ..

VR Score

92

Informative language

95

Neutral language

78

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

48

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

long-living

Source diversity

1

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