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Morphological diversity of trace fossils attributed to burrowing decapods. A: Ophiomorpha . B: Thalassinoides . C: Macanopsis . D: Spongeliomorpha . E: Pholeus . F: Psilonichnus . G: Sinusichnus . H: Gyrolithes. Drawings based on de Gibert (1996), Schlirf (2000), Muñiz & Mayoral (2001a, b), and Knaust (2002).
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Trace fossils assigned to the activity of decapod crustaceans are well known from the stratigraphic record. Changes in abundance and ichnodiversity of these structures through the Phanerozoic have been analysed. A database summarising trace fossil occurrences was compiled. This information is interpreted with respect to the life history of burrowin...
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... and on the possibility of detecting these events through the trace fossil record. Obviously, this analysis is problematic because a comparison between the ichnofossil and body fossil patterns is not always straight- forward. However, it is important to explore the question of whether or not a possible correlation between these two sources of information actually exists. Furthermore, the study may reveal if the trace fossil record can provide new evidence that is not elucidated from the analysis of the body fossil record alone. Integration of the palaeoecolo- gical information offered by trace fossils with the origin, radiation, and extinction patterns inferred from the body fossil record is important for the analysis of those organisms that do not have good preservation potential, especially the decapods with a weakly calcified exoskeleton (Förster 1985). The presence of these organisms is expressed indirectly by the record of their life activities. The overall trend indicated by the record of biogenic structures currently attributed to decapods through the Phanerozoic is analysed through each geological period, and related to information in the body fossil record. A database was compiled of all the trace fossil occurrences related to the activity of decapods through the Phanerozoic. Potential biases in the analysis of the database were evaluated. Finally, an attempt was made to explore the role played by decapods in the acquisition of the infaunal habit through their evolutionary development. The database includes 451 records of biogenic structures commonly attributed to the activity of burrowing decapods (mazes and boxworks), and was constructed based on a detailed literature survey of primary sources and other data from authors. The majority of the records belong to the most common ichnogenera Thalassinoides and Ophiomorpha and, to a lesser extent, Psilonichnus , Spongeliomorpha , Pholeus , Gyrolithes, Macanopsis and Sinusichnus (Fig. 1). Table 1 summarises the first appearances of these ichnotaxa. The database was constructed at the ichnogeneric level. Information considered important included burrow morphology, trophic type, burrowing depth, tiering position and environment of deposition. The analysis was restricted to soft-ground, shallow- marine ichnofaunas and, therefore, examples of decapod burrows in deep-marine turbidite systems or in omission surfaces were not considered. The data were used to develop a general abundance diagram (Fig. 2) showing the number of burrow systems similar to those constructed by modern decapods through the Phanerozoic. The trends shown in the database have been analysed in terms of the temporal duration of the stratigraphic intervals (Fig. 3), the volume of shallow-marine rocks deposited during each period (Fig. 4), and the area covered by the sea in each interval of time (Fig. 5). Dura- tions of stratigraphic intervals are based on the International Stratigraphic Chart of the International Union of Geological Sciences and UNESCO (Remane et al. 2000). An estimation of sea-covered area and rock volume was obtained from Ronov et al. (1980). For the volume of rocks, the carbonate, carbonate and clastic, and marine clastic subdivisions of Ronov et al . (1980) have been used. For sea-covered areas, the platforms and continents are taken to reflect both continental platforms and epeiric seas. Ronov et al. (1980) postulated that changes in volumes of sediment were directly related to the changes in areas of marine sedimentation, and concluded that both measures were controlled by global processes. These two measures show the same trend, so it seems they reflect the same tendency. Also, with increasing age, the sedimentary rocks would have had more chance to be destroyed, so the younger rocks would probably have greater represen- tation than the older ones. However, Ronov et al. (1980) plotted relative masses of sedimentary rocks for each period against time and concluded that there was no regular decrease in the relative mass of rocks, but a peri- odic fluctuation in the distribution of sediments through the Phanerozoic. The analysis of the decapod trace fossil records for Early, Middle and Late Palaeozoic, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Palaeogene and Neogene is presented here. Additionally, the possible correlations with the body fossil record are explored. The scale of analysis was determined by the quality and number of records available. There are few Cambrian and Ordovician burrow systems that resemble those currently attributed to younger decapod crustaceans. Almost all the examples correspond to the ichnogenus Thalassinoides , and they are preserved generally in carbonate deposits. Structures in Lower Cambrian carbonates referred to commonly as Aulophycus (Zhuravleva et al . 1982; Astashkin 1985) and compared with Ophiomorpha (Balsam 1984; Burzin et al . 2001) have been recorded in Russia and the eastern USA. However, their origins are still uncertain. Ophiomorpha has also been recorded in the Cambrian of the ...
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Citations
... However, the trace could be found in oxygen-depleted environments but in the form of tiny specimens. On the other hand, the trace-makers of Thalassinoides cannot be distinguished by the burrows alone (Whicher et al., 2016), given that the Paleozoic occurrences may indicate that the producers are not crustaceans (Carmona et al., 2004). ...
We report tetrapod traces and associated ichnofauna from two stratigraphic, dominantly terrestrial levels of the Tiout Formation (Valanginian-latest Albian to lower Cenomanian) in Laghouat and Brezina areas, Central Saharan Atlas (Djebel Amour), northwestern Algeria and discuss their paleoecological implications. The assemblages display abundant footprints that show similarities with crocodylian swim traces assigned to Hatcherichnus known from Jurassic–Cretaceous deposits of North America and Morocco. However, there is also some similarity in shape with traces attributed to swimming pterosaurs by different authors. Because of the isolated materials from Algeria and the lack of distinct trackways, we leave the decision on the tracemaker open. The majority of the traces are tridactyl to tetradactyl imprints consisting of parallel furrows left by the claws of swimming or buoyant individuals. Tetrapod swim traces are identified, described, and figured herein for the first time from the Mesozoic of Algeria. These vertebrate fossil traces are associated with a low-diversity invertebrate marine ichnofauna, including cf. Bergaueria isp., Phycodes isp., Sinusichnus cf. seilacheri, and Thalassinoides suevicus. Together with body fossil data, including abundant fishes and non-avian dinosaurs, they indicate a diverse animal community populating a fluvial system environment with marine influence. Paleoecological and paleoenvironmental features of the Tiout Formation add new information to the ichnoassemblages previously reported from the ‘mid’-Cretaceous of North Africa.
... Interpretação: Thalassinoides são interpretados como construções de habitação (domichnia) e alimentação (fodinichnia) produzidas principalmente por crustáceos decápodes (Ekdale 1992, Myrow 1995, Carmona et al. 2004. Os mais abundantes registros de Thalassinoides ocorrem em depósitos do Mesozoico e Cenozoico, sendo os crustáceos Callianassidae geralmente considerado um dos principais construtores (Ekdale 1992, Carmona et al. 2004. ...
... Interpretação: Thalassinoides são interpretados como construções de habitação (domichnia) e alimentação (fodinichnia) produzidas principalmente por crustáceos decápodes (Ekdale 1992, Myrow 1995, Carmona et al. 2004. Os mais abundantes registros de Thalassinoides ocorrem em depósitos do Mesozoico e Cenozoico, sendo os crustáceos Callianassidae geralmente considerado um dos principais construtores (Ekdale 1992, Carmona et al. 2004. As icnoespécies mais representativas de Thalassinoides são T. paradoxicus, T. saxonicus, T.suevicus, T.ornatus e T. horizontalis (Myrow 1995, Keighley & Pickerill 1997, Yanin & Baraboshkin 2013. ...
A abertura do Oceano Atlântico Sul durante o Cretáceo foi responsável pela geração de extensas bacias marginais ao longo da costa brasileira onde se acumularam espessas sequências siliciclásticas marinhas e transicionais. A Formação Alcântara é o registro de uma sequência costeira-lacustre depositada na Bacia São Luís-Grajaú durante este período. Os principais afloramentos da Formação Alcântara são encontrados em falésias costeiras na região homônima, onde alcançam aproximadamente 20 metros de espessura. Na praia da Baronesa esta unidade é caracterizada por arenitos finos a médios na base sobrepostos por intercalações de pelitos vermelhos e dolomitos esbranquiçados dispostos em ciclos de raseamento ascendente. Neste trabalho os dolomitos são classificados como estromatólitos estratiformes com a ocorrência de icnofósseis ainda não descritos na literatura científica para esta unidade. As camadas de dolomito são contínuas lateralmente por dezenas de metros e exibem espessuras que variam entre 30 e 50 centímetros, formam corpos tabulares de relevo sinóptico baixo (ondulados) com traço laminar plano, sendo classificados como doloboundstone estratiforme. As estruturas microbiais são definidas pela alternância entre laminações irregulares e crenuladas, localmente descontinuas e enrugadas, que são visualizadas como finas linhas de material micrítico mais escuro com espessura de no máximo 1 mm. Microscopicamente são constituídas predominantemente por dolomita microcristalina, peloides e grãos terrígenos, além de raros bioclastos. Localmente estas camadas são maciças, e exibem poros fenestrais, feições microcársticas preenchidas por marga, gretas de contração e icnofósseis. Os icnofósseis ocorrem principalmente no topo das camadas do dolomito, porém distribuídos de forma heterogênea nesta superfície; exibem uma baixa icnodiversidade e abundância, e pouco destroem a laminação interna.Foram descritas seis icnoespécies: Furculosus carpathicus,Palaeophycus tubularis, Phycodes cf. circinatus, Taenidium barretti, Thalassinoides suevicus e Thalassinoides isp. Esta associação de icnofósseis é interpretada como o registro da atividade de organismos sedimentófagos que habitavam substratos semiconsolidados a inconsolidados indicando uma sobreposição das icnofácies Glossifungites e Cruziana. Opadrão estratiforme do doloboundstone denota um ambiente calmo com baixa interferências da hidrodinâmica ou em ambientes restritos como a laguna. O desenvolvimento do estromatólito é interrompido pelo avanço dos processos de exposição subaérea
(e.g. gretas de contração) associado a colonização e predação do substrato. Em resumo a sedimentação carbonática ocorria nas porções mais rasas da laguna que era influenciada pelas variações periódicas na taxa de sedimentação siliciclástica, períodos de exposição subaérea, influxos de águas marinhas e doces, curtos períodos de colonização do substrato por organismos sedimentófagos e variações locais na taxa de nutrientes disponíveis, esta provavelmente relacionada a formação de esteiras microbiais.
... The Thalassinoides structures have been widely interpreted as burrows of fossorial decapod crustaceans (e.g., Bromley 1975;Carmona et al. 2004). Interpretations that some apparently J-shaped burrows from Nasiłów were produced by counterparts of recent, tidal-flat bound Ocypode crabs (Radwański 1985;Abdel-Gawad 1986) have been questioned by Machalski (1998). ...
The west-east trending outcrop belt in the Lublin Upland, Poland, permits a preliminary assessment of regional patterns in facies development, fossil content, stratigraphic completness, and depositional history across the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary. The observed patterns are interpreted in the context of regional pa-laeogeography, synsedimentary tectonics, and relative sea-level change. One of the most important features of the regional K-Pg succession is a heavily burrowed surface that truncates Maastrichtian or lowermost Danian strata, and is overlain by condensed glauconite-rich deposits of Danian age. This discontinuity is interpreted as the transgressive surface of the early, but not earliest, Danian sedimentary cycle. The history of research on the Maastrichtian and Danian strata in the Lublin Upland, their significance for local communities, geoheritage, and geotouristics, and selected lithofacies and fossils are also described.
... Decapod crustaceans are suggested as the primary producers of the post-Palaeozoic Thalassinoides (Nickell & Atkinson 1995). Although general morphology of some of the Palaeozoic Thalassinoides does resemble burrows produced by modern decapods, there are some differences challenging robust interpretation (Carmona et al. 2004). Phylogenetic affinity of the oldest (Lower Cambrian) producers of Thalassinoides remains enigmatic (Zhang et al. 2017a). ...
The Agronomic Revolution implies a gradual sophistication of organism-substrate interactions and progressive colonization of shelf environments by vagile endobenthos in the late Ediacaran and Cambrian periods. These changes are impressively mirrored in a palaeontological record of ichnoassemblages in marine siliciclastic facies. In con-trast, endobenthic communities in carbonate successions remained comparatively poor until a fundamental transformation during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Herein we report complex open burrows (Thalassinoides and Olenichnus) from the Sukharikha Formation exposed near the Plakhinskii Island (Yenisei River, Igarka Uplift). Lithological and chemostratigraphical correlation with the stratotype suggest the Terreneuvian age of the fossil-bearing strata accumulated in storm-agitated mid- to dis-tal inner-ramp settings. Each of the ichnotaxa occurs in a specific deposit in the studied section: Olenichnus is localised exclusively in the background-sedimentation deposits, whereas Thalassinoides occurs in the storm-event beds. Our data support early reports suggesting that colonization of marine carbonate sediments by burrowing metazoans was initiated already in the Terreneuvian and became a solid basis for the following development of deep-tier bioturbation in carbonates in the Ordovician Period.
... Decapod crustaceans are one of the groups of organisms that exhibit a more significant bioturbation activity, both today as in the past (in particular during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic; see Carmona et al., 2004). At the moment, their burrowing behavior is probably the best known; many groups of modern decapods [e.g. ...
... Rodríguez and Panza 2003;Buatois et al. 2007;MacEachern et al. 2007;Rodríguez-Tovar et al. 2007;Foster et al. 2020), Paleozoic Thalassinoides cannot be attributed to any specific group of crustaceans with accuracy (e.g. Carmona et al. 2004;Netto et al. 2007;Villegas-Martín et al. 2020). The Rhizocorallium-bearing Glossifungites suites (stratigraphic intervals 1 and 2; Table 3) show sharp-lined but not irregular burrow boundaries, suggesting colonization of stiffgrounds rather than firmgrounds, as indicated by the other suites. ...
... Although the radiation of thalassinidean decapods took place during the Jurassic (Förster, 1985;Feldmann, 2003), Thalassinoides commonly occurs in Paleozoic rocks (Carmona et al., 2004). Most of Paleozoic Thalassinoides are smaller (shaft diameter commonly 10-15 mm) and display a simpler architecture than their Mesozoic-Cenozoic counterparts. ...
... Most of Paleozoic Thalassinoides are smaller (shaft diameter commonly 10-15 mm) and display a simpler architecture than their Mesozoic-Cenozoic counterparts. In particular, Late Paleozoic specimens may have been produced by other malacostracans, such as stomatopods, reflecting adaptative convergence (Carmona et al., 2004). Like Thalassinoides, the Gyrolithes specimens described in Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks comprise welldeveloped corkscrew-shaped burrows of several sizes, locally occurring in such abundance that there is almost no space between vertical corkscrews (e.g. ...
... Scale bars = 10 mm. Dott, 1984;Chamberlain & Baer, 1973) (see review by Carmona et al., 2004). Glaessner (1969) noted that one of the oldest occurrences of Mesozoic fossil crustaceans comes from Lower Triassic brackish-water deposits. ...
Spiral burrows perpendicular to the bedding plane are well known in the fossil record and are usually referred to the ichnogenus Gyrolithes. Common in Mesozoic and Cenozoic marginal-marine, brackish-water deposits, the only records of Gyrolithes in Paleozoic rocks are from the Cambrian. In Permian rocks of the Paraná Basin (Rio do Sul and
Rio Bonito formations), south Brazil, some short, irregularly spiraled burrows similar to Gyrolithes occur in marginalmarine,
brackish-water siltstone and mudstone, closely associated with Thalassinoides, forming a Glossifungites suite.
These burrows seem to play the same ethologic role of the corkscrew-shaped burrows that grade into modern Thalassinoides
burrow systems. The corkscrew shape of Gyrolithes is assumed to represent a widespread architectural adaptation to deal
with extreme salinity fluctuations in Mesozoic and Cenozoic brackish-water environments. However, spirals produced by thalassinidean shrimps in brackish water connected to modern Thalassinoides burrow systems are related to feeding activities. Instead of behavior to avoid extreme salinity fluctuations, the decapod spiral burrows may represent a feeding strategy to exploit organic-rich zones of the substrate in calm and protected environments. The discovery of spiral burrows in Permian marginal-marine stiffgrounds to firmgrounds indicates that this strategy was already adopted by some group of
infaunal crustaceans in brackish-water ecosystems during the late Paleozoic.
... Rodríguez and Panza 2003;Buatois et al. 2007;MacEachern et al. 2007;Rodríguez-Tovar et al. 2007;Foster et al. 2020), Paleozoic Thalassinoides cannot be attributed to any specific group of crustaceans with accuracy (e.g. Carmona et al. 2004;Netto et al. 2007;Villegas-Martín et al. 2020). The Rhizocorallium-bearing Glossifungites suites (stratigraphic intervals 1 and 2; Table 3) show sharp-lined but not irregular burrow boundaries, suggesting colonization of stiffgrounds rather than firmgrounds, as indicated by the other suites. ...
The Glossifungites ichnofacies can be a signature of allogenic processes that demark omission, exhumation, and ravinement or indicate autogenic processes impacting several depositional scenarios, such as incised valleys, submarine gullies and canyons, erosive shoreface, tidal channels, and dewatered muddy substrates. Comparatively, autogenic surfaces demarked by the Glossifungites ichnofacies have been less studied than allogenic surfaces. In this study case, we interpret the examples from the transitional offshore to offshore deposits of the Devonian Ponta Grossa Formation (Paraná Basin, southern Brazil) as tubular tempestites. They are commonly associated with the initial phase of the transgressive systems tract when the shallow-marine environment becomes starved of sediment supply. Those occurrences are mostly characterized by Thalassinoides and, less frequent, Palaeophycus, Skolithos, and Rhizocorallium with sharp to irregular walls, passive filling, and descending from an erosive surface. In offshore deposits the erosive surface can be obliterated, making the Glossifungites suite the unique evidence of storm processes (e.g. tubular tempestites). The results also highlight some differences between autogenic and allogenic Glossifungites from Ponta Grossa Formation and demonstrate that the few levels with allogenic Glossifungites suites represent coplanar surfaces coupling sequence boundaries and transgressive surfaces developed in the early stages of transgressive systems tracts.
... The Thalassinoides structures have been widely interpreted as burrows of fossorial decapod crustaceans (e.g., Bromley 1975;Carmona et al. 2004). Interpretations that some apparently J-shaped burrows from Nasiłów were produced by counterparts of recent, tidal-flat bound Ocypode crabs (Radwański 1985;Abdel-Gawad 1986) have been questioned by Machalski (1998). ...
... The ichnogenus Gyrolithes is mainly known as a shallow-marine trace fossil (Carmona et al., 2004;Desai, 2013;Qi & Hu, 2001), but is also documented from brackish environments (Netto et al., 2007;Qi & Hu, 2001) within the Cruziana and Skolithos ichnofacies (Uchman & Hanken, 2013). It has been mentioned by some workers that spiral burrows can protect trace makers from salinity fluctuations (Buatois et al., 2005;Jensen & Mens, 1999;Knox, 1986;Pemberton & Wightman, 1992;Sanders et al., 1965). ...
The helical, vertical trace fossil Gyrolithes lorcaensis is described from marine to marginal-marine deposits of the Lower Cretaceous of the Sarcheshmeh Formation near the city Kalat-e-Naderi in the Kopet-Dagh Basin. This is the first report of Gyrolithes from Iran and thus expands the geographic range of this trace fossil. G. lorcaensis is characterized by its unique morphometric parameters, a small burrow size and whorl radius, which distinguishes it as the smallest Gyrolithes ichnospecies. The most likely producers of the Iranian Gyrolithes were crustacean decapods, which is supported by the paleoenvironment (shallow and warm water ramp) in which it is found. The function of the spiral structure in the described Gyrolithes of the Sarcheshmeh Formation can be explained as a permanent dwelling structure with the main purpose of farming bacteria via increasing the surface area of the burrow margin that allows more microbial activities. The small burrow dimensions may reflect reduced burrower body size in response to the dysoxic to anoxic conditions suggested by sedimentological evidence.
