ichnofossil

English

Etymology

From ichno- +‎ fossil.

Pronunciation

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Noun

ichnofossil (plural ichnofossils)

1. (paleontology) A trace fossil; a fossil record that preserves some activity of an organism, but no part of the organism itself.

   For example, an ichnofossil might be the preserved track an animal, or its burrow.

   • 2007, Charles E. Savrda, “6: Taphonomy of Trace Fossils”, in William Miller, III, editor, Trace Fossils, Elsevier, page 106:

     Suites of taphonomic factors that influence body fossils and ichnofossils are clearly not identical. Nonetheless, without too much twisting, ichnofossil-lagerstätten can be placed into the same genetic categories.

   • 2010, Eduardo S. Bellosi et al., “21: Ichnofacies Examination of the Sarmiento Formation”, in R. H. Madden, A. A. Carlini, M. G. Vucetich, R. F. Kay, editors, The Paleontology of Gran Barranca, Cambridge University Press, page 313:

     The only abundant ichnofossils are large and inclined structures in La Cancha Bed (Profile K), interpreted as mammal burrows.

   • 2017 March 22, Elsa Panciroli, “Walking in the footsteps of giants and gerbils: what fossil prints can tell us”, in The Guardian:

     Changes in the preservational environment in the thousands or millions of years between the creation of each set of prints results in these different forms of ichnofossil.

Related terms

• ichnofacies
• ichnology
• ichnotaxon

Further reading

• Trace fossil on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Trace fossil classification on Wikipedia.Wikipedia