Fossils Prove Illinois Used To Be Tropical - Videos from The Weather Channel

Fossils Prove Illinois Used To Be Tropical

September 11, 2025

More than 300 million years ago, Illinois was alive with tropical swamps and shallow seas, now immortalized in the world-famous Mazon Creek fossil site. Professor Dr. Jim Schiffbauer explains what makes these findings so extraordinary and helps us imagine the other-worldly ecosystems of the past.