Ice Age Residents of Illinois

Dr. Charles (Charlie) Collinson, Principal Geologist, Emeritus, has volunteered three-quarter time at the ISGS since retiring in 1991. His enthusiasm for Illinios fossils has spirited him to devote untold hours reconstructing them with pencil and computer, primarily for educational purposes. In 2002, the Survey published a new version of his Guide for Beginning Fossil Hunters (ISGS Ed Series 15), and he has produced a colorful series of 15 fossil bookmarks. By training Dr. Collinson is a paleontologist with an undergraduate degree in geology from Augustana College, where he has maintained an interest in the Fryxell Museum, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geology from the University of Iowa. He had a distinguished career at the ISGS, serving as Section Head of the Stratigraphy and Subsurface Geology Section from 1969-1991. He has provided service to the public, as well as to many geological societies and commissions, including serving as Editor of the Journal of Paleontology.

Charlie's present emphasis is on Ice Age mammals, Quaternary residents of Illinois that became extinct at the close of the last glacial episode. Working from the skeleton structure and research on the mammal's habits and habitat, he painstakingly fleshes them out adding features and fur. Here you can see his reconstructions and read about these extinct mammals of the Illinois' Ice Age.

Sabre Cat
Jefferson's Ground Sloth
Stag Moose
Woodland Musk Ox
Long-nosed Peccary
Mastodon
Bison
Woolly Mammoth
Ice Age Residents of Illinois