Trochoceras grovaniense Cephalopod Fossil

This fossil was discovered by quarrymen in the summer of 1913 while digging the Bossardville limestone layer near Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, USA. Paleontologist Ruth Raeder Mook named it Trochoceras grovaniense (Mook, 1915). She did this while at the Paleontological Laboratory at Columbia University using a specimen loaned to her by the owner Guy A. Mowry of Grovania, Pennsylvania. The fossil dates to the Upper Silurian Period.

Ruth Weir Raeder at Wellesley College 1908

 

Ruth Weir Raeder (1887-1978) graduated from Wellesley College in 1908 with a Bachelor's of Arts. Studying as an assistant to Professor Elizabeth Florette Fisher of the Geology Department graduated on June 20, 1911 from Wellesley College with a Masters of Arts in Geology and Chemistry (Thesis: A Study in Animal Distribution). She became a lecturer in the geology department at Barnard College from 1912-1916. On September 2, 1914 she married Charles Craig Mook (1887-1966) at Lake Nuangola, Pennsylvania. 

Charles Mook graduated from Columbia University 1913 and obtained his Master's degree in Geology from Columbia in June 1914. He later obtained his Ph.D. from there as well in 1915. During his career he taught at Bernard College, Columbia University, New York University, and Rutgers University. He was professor of geology at Brooklyn College from 1932-1958. He was a curator of paleontology and vertebrates at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.