Jasmine Maldonado's Page

Jasmine's Page

Jasmine Maldonado '01
Anthropology Major
Geology Minor

Name Unidentified Trace fossils

Age Late Cretaceous

Formation Main Fossiliferous Layer

Comments
Sedimentary structures formed by organisms such as trackways, trails, borings, and burrows are known as trace fossils. Trace fossils are also known as ichnofossils, and these fall into the scientific branch known as ichnology: the study of post-depositional biological effects on sedimentary deposits. Not only are trace fossils important because they give clues about paleoecology and paleoenvironments, but they also represent the fossilized behavior of organisms. They are often the only direct evidence for the actions and activities of ancient life. Moreover, they are sometimes the only evidence we have of certain extinct non-preservable (soft-bodied) organisms that we otherwise would never have known to exist.

The specimen is a burrow caused by an organism burrowing in a sandy marine environment. Although the behavior of the organism has been recorded, the actual organism that created it is unknown. This is characteristic of the limitations of trace fossils. Rarely do the tracemaker and the actual trace get preserved together, if at all, so most trace fossils cannot be associated with its creator and remain unidentified.

Bibliography:

Ekdale, A.A.; Bromley. R.G.; Pemberton, S.G. 1984. Ichnology: Trace Fossils in Sedimentology and Stratigraphy. Society of Economic Paleotologists and Minerologists. Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Moore, R.C. 1962. Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology (miscellaneous). Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press. New York, NY

Prothero, D.R. 1998. Bringing Fossils to Life: An Introduction to Paleobiology. McGraw-Hill Comp. Boston, Mass.

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Jasmine's Page
	Jasmine Maldonado '01 Anthropology Major Geology Minor

Name	Unidentified Trace fossils
Age	Late Cretaceous
Formation	Main Fossiliferous Layer
Comments	Sedimentary structures formed by organisms such as trackways, trails, borings, and burrows are known as trace fossils. Trace fossils are also known as ichnofossils, and these fall into the scientific branch known as ichnology: the study of post-depositional biological effects on sedimentary deposits. Not only are trace fossils important because they give clues about paleoecology and paleoenvironments, but they also represent the fossilized behavior of organisms. They are often the only direct evidence for the actions and activities of ancient life. Moreover, they are sometimes the only evidence we have of certain extinct non-preservable (soft-bodied) organisms that we otherwise would never have known to exist. The specimen is a burrow caused by an organism burrowing in a sandy marine environment. Although the behavior of the organism has been recorded, the actual organism that created it is unknown. This is characteristic of the limitations of trace fossils. Rarely do the tracemaker and the actual trace get preserved together, if at all, so most trace fossils cannot be associated with its creator and remain unidentified.