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Earth Sciences
Paleontology

Possibly the oldest fish-made resting traces

Profile image of Andreas WetzelAndreas Wetzel

2022, Ichnos

https://doi.org/10.1080/10420940.2022.2047039
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Abstract

The Silurian Sharawra Member (middle to late Llandoverian) in Saudi Arabia exhibits unique surface traces with exceptional preservation: Seven small, wing-shaped traces occur on a sandstone slab showing well-defined hummocky cross-stratification having a few decimeters wavelength being covered by a thin mud layer. These traces are preserved as concave epirelief along with elongated internal striae and surrounded by slightly elevated levees. Preservation of these delicate, 10–20 mm long and ~10 mm wide traces suggests that they were formed after a storm event when mud had already settled to the sediment surface. The lack of wave-generated sedimentary structures implies deposition between fair-weather and storm-wave base probably preventing further rapid reworking by waves. Based on their geometry, internal pattern, and spatial distribution, these wing-shaped traces are interpreted to have been produced by relatively stationary bottom-feeding fish, morphologically similar to ancestors of Gobiidae, probably in the Actinopterygii class. The majority of fish-made trace fossils record feeding and locomotion behaviour, whereas the wing-shaped traces are interpreted to represent resting structures made by fish that pressed their fins downward on the muddy sediment surface and hence, represent undertracks. These traces are possibly the oldest fish-made structure documented thus far. These wing-shaped traces are described as Pisquiesichnus dashtgardi igen. et isp. nov. in this study.

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Crayfish fossil burrows, a key tool for identification of terrestrial environments in tide-dominated sequence, Upper Eocene, Sirt Basin, Libya
abouessa ashour

The majority of decapod crustaceans are defined as marine organisms. Crayfish are one of the relatively few known exceptions. They are freshwater-environment adapted decapods that build characteristically large, simple and branched cylindrical morphotype traces in fluvial plains. Their burrows bear lots of special features that make them different from other burrows. Consequently, the identification of true crayfish burrows in the sedimentary record is crucial for the interpretation of depositional environment. The studied interval (45 m thick, exposed in the Dur At Talah escarpment southern Sirt Basin; Fig. 1) represents a case-study which is previously believed to be purely tidal. In this interval, the identification of the crayfish burrows provides a reliable tool for distinguishing terrestrial environments. The crayfish burrows of Dur At Talah are characterized by dimensional, morphological, and especially behavioral aspects that combined, cannot be ascribed to another burrow makers. Essential criteria used to attribute these burrows to the crayfish include: Their length (the depth of penetration into the sediments), their regularly circular cross-sectional area, the presence of midway enlargement chamber along the burrow vertical axis, as well as the subtle preservation of the burrow chimney. More importantly , these morphological features allow the recognition of some of the crayfish diagnostic behavioral habits. Most significant of these is the one deduced from the interaction of the burrow with the seasonal fluctuation of the paleo groundwater level. Supplementary indications that restrict the studied burrows to terrestrial organism include their occurrences within pedogenically altered strata that bear evident features of prolonged emersion. Of these features, mud cracks and burrows that are filled with continental fossil are the clearest. Few horizons with termite fungus comb are also distinguishable. Although other burrows of the classically known thalassinoide morphotypes are common in the studied outcrop, this article focuses essentially on the relatively (several orders of magnitude) larger cylindrical mor-photypes. This study is based on comparing the field data concerning the studied burrows with those morphometrically similar modern and ancient documented cases.

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Trace fossils analysis of fluvial to open marine transitional sediments: Example from the Upper Devonian (Geirud Formation), Central Alborz, Iran
Hossein Mosaddegh

Palaeoworld, 2014

This study integrates ichnological and sedimentological data to interpret depositional environments of the mixed siliciclastic-carbonate fluvial to marine sediments of the Geirud Formation (Upper Devonian) in the central Alborz, northern Iran. Lithofacies analysis shows that these sediments are deposited in fluvial, tidal, shoreface, and shelf environments. Fluvial and tidal deposits are characterized by the presence of bi-to multidirectional cross beddings, reverse directional current ripples, low angle cross beddings, and herringbone cross beddings, with a few scattered Skolithos and Palaeophycus. Shoreface sediments, accumulated in a storm-influenced setting, are characterized by a preferentially interface and low diversity Cruziana ichnoassemblage (Rhizocorallium, Thalassinoides, Palaeophycus, Chondrites, and Ophiomorpha). In contrast to the fluvial-tidal assemblage, the storm-influenced shelf sediments display a highly diversified, mixture of dwelling and feeding forms (Arenicolites, Protovirgularia, Diplocraterion, Palaeophycus, Thalassinoides, Chondrites, and Helminthopsis), reflecting the presence of adequate food resources both in substrate and water column under normal salinity conditions. A fluvial-shelf replacement of the weakly to scarcely bioturbated sediments by the Rhizocorallium-Thalassinoides suite (Cruziana)-Chondrites-Helminthopsis (distal Cruziana) suite from the lower to upper parts of the succession clearly indicates an overall deepening upward in the Geirud Formation. In contrast to the lower part, generally of restricted environment, the upper part of the succession mainly shows open marine conditions. Ichnofabric development is controlled primarily by depositional conditions, e.g., bottom water oxygenation, sediment type, food abundance, and hydrodynamic level, which all exert control on substrate colonization style.

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Exploring the aftermath of the Cambrian explosion: The evolutionary significance of marginal- to shallow-marine ichnofaunas of Jordan
Richard Hofmann, Rafie Shinaq, Gabriela Mangano

The middle Cambrian Hanneh Member of the Burj Formation and the middle to upper Cambrian Umm Ishrin Formation of the Dead Sea area, Jordan, contain well-preserved and abundant ichnofaunas. Trace fossils are present in a wide variety of depositional environments, from tide-dominated shelf to prodelta, delta front and interdistributary-bay tidal flats. Twelve trace fossil assemblages have been identified within a number of sequence-stratigraphic settings, namely early transgressive subtidal dune and bar complex, late transgressive isolated dune patches and dune-field abandonment, highstand deltaic progradation, and forced-regressive deltaic progradation. These ichnofaunas provide information that helps us to understand the nature of Cambrian ecosystems in the aftermath of the Cambrian radiation. The Jordan ichnofaunas display evidence of firm ground conditions at or near the sea bottom. These include (1) well-preserved scratch marks in most Cruziana and Rusophycus ichnospecies, (2) adhering Gyrolithes polonicus burrows, and (3) unlined passively filled Diplocraterion isp. penetrating into underlying mudstone. Whereas the Diplocraterion isp. occurrences are a classic example of the Glossifungites ichnofacies linked to erosional exhumation, the firmground G. polonicus is associated to a maximum flooding surface with no erosion involved. The trace fossil suites dominated by trilobite structures are firmground examples of the Cruziana ichnofacies, raising issues with respect to the substrate affinities of this ichnofacies, which is typically considered indicative of softgrounds. Our study underscores evolutionary controls on this ichnofacies, suggesting that lower Paleozoic occurrences, which are dominated by trilobite trails and trackways, reflect firm substrates and younger ones represent the typical softground examples. The occurrence of abundant bilobate trace fossils, scratch marks and trackways in interdistributary-bay tidal flats within a braidplain delta complex in the Umm Ishrin Formation provides evidence that arthropods were able to foray into marginal-marine brackish-water settings during the Cambrian. Analysis of the tiering structure indicates relatively simple communities and limited use of the infaunal ecospace. Low-energy fully marine and marginal-marine ichnofabrics are dominated by shallow-tier deposit- and detritus-feeding trace fossils. Deep-tier structures of detritus feeders are present in ichnofabrics from fully marine low-energy settings, whereas deep-tier trace fossils of suspension feeders are dominant in high-energy subtidal zones.

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Shallow-marine trace fossils from the Callovian-Oxfordian Tuwaiq Mountain Limestone and Hanifa Formations, central Saudi Arabia
magdy el-hedeny

The Callovian-Oxfordian Tuwaiq Mountain Limestone and Hanifa formations of Central Saudi Arabia contain an assemblage of abundant trace fossils, including Chondrites intricatus Thalassinoides isp. This assemblage is considered to belong to the Cruziana ichnofacies. Traces of this assemblage have been described for the first time from this interval of the present area. Ethologically, the trace makers reflect a wide range of behaviours with Chemichnia (Chondrites), domichnia (Palaeophycus), complex mining "domichnia/fodinichnia" (Thalassinoides), Fodinichnia (Phycodes), Repichnia (Curvolithus) and pascichnion and possible chemichnion (Hillichnus). The trace fossil association is comparatively rich in the Hanifa Formation than those recorded in the Tuwaiq Mountain Limestone Formation. The ichnogenus Thalassinoides is the dominant trace fossil and well distributed in the whole section. On the other hand, Chondrites is predominant in the marly limestone bed at the base of the Hanifa Formation. In the studied area, The Cruziana ichnofacies reflects moderate to relatively low energy in infralittoral to shallow circalittoral substrates and below the fair-weather wave base, but not storm wave base environments.

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