From batch sales of unopened rocks on eBay to discreet phone calls to higher-dollar patrons, Illinois’ commercial fossil ...

Illinois’ commercial fossil trade is alive and well thanks to collectors who are motivated by money, science and the hunt — and who test the outer bounds of legality.

Jay Damm hunting fossils at Mazonia State Fish and Wildlife Area leads the note package around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

Unique to the Mazon Creek Formation in Illinois, it became its state fossil in 1989. Soft-bodied and relatively small (a living specimen would fit in a human hand), with its stalked eyes and long ...