View allAll Photos Tagged trace
Arthrophycus alleghaniensis (Harlan, 1831) - trace fossils in sandstone from the Silurian of Tennessee, USA. (bedding plane view)
Trace fossils are any indirect evidence of ancient life. They refer to features in rocks that do not represent parts of the body of a once-living organism. Traces include footprints, tracks, trails, burrows, borings, and bitemarks. Body fossils provide information about the morphology of ancient organisms, while trace fossils provide information about the behavior of ancient life forms. Interpreting trace fossils and determination of the identity of a trace maker can be straightforward (for example, a dinosaur footprint represents walking behavior) or not. Sediments that have trace fossils are said to be bioturbated. Burrowed textures in sedimentary rocks are referred to as bioturbation. Trace fossils have scientific names assigned to them, in the same style & manner as living organisms or body fossils.
The traces seen here are called Arthrophycus alleghaniensis - they are in sandstones from Tennessee's Clinch Formation (also known as the Tuscarora Formation). Arthrophycus is common in Lower Silurian rocks, especially in North America and parts of the former Gondwana supercontinent. These burrows are feeding traces that were likely made by an arthropod such as a trilobite or a xiphosuran (horseshoe crabs & relatives) (see Rindsberg & Martin, 2003). A soft-bodied arthropod called Pleuralata spinosa has since been found in interbedded shale of the Clinch Formation (see: bioone.org/ContentImages/Journals/pleo/86/6/11-133R1.1/gr...;). The size and morphology of Pleuralata spinosa are consistent with Arthrophycus alleghaniensis burrows (McCoy et al., 2012).
Stratigraphy: out-of-place rock likely derived from the Clinch Formation / Tuscarora Formation, Lower Silurian
Locality: rock in wall at Veterans Overlook, southern side of Rt. 25E, near the top of Clinch Mountain, northeastern Grainger County, northeastern Tennessee, USA (36° 20' 58.78" North latitude, 83° 23' 37.59" West longitude) - wall rock is of unknown provenance, but possibly (probably?) derived from Clinch Mountain itself.
----------------------------
References cited:
Rindsberg & Martin (2003) - Arthrophycus in the Silurian of Alabama (USA) and the problem of compound trace fossils. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 192: 187-219.
McCoy et al. (2012) - A possible tracemaker for Arthrophycus alleghaniensis. Journal of Paleontology 86: 996-1001. (bioone.org/journals/journal-of-paleontology/volume-86/iss...)
Sights along the Natchez Trace Parkway Milepost 391.9 to 407.7 Tennessee. Went by the Swan View Overlook, Baker Bluff Overlook.