Rhizocorallium

Rhizocorallium on a layer of the Upper Muschelkalk in the Diemel Valley

Rhizocorallium is a genus ofU-shaped trace fossils orientedhorizontally (parallel to the layer surface) or at an angle to the layer surface of sedimentary rocks , which have a so-called blade between the two parallel branches of the "U".

Origin and tradition

Rhizocorallium is not a body fossil , but a trace fossil. This means that it does not depict the body of a primeval living being, only its behavior . It is certain that the creators of the trail were sediment- eating marine invertebrates .

Rhizocorallium has been handed down from the early Cambrian . However, it is particularly typical of marine sedimentary rocks of the Mesozoic Era (Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous).

Possible classifications

Rhizocorallium is divided into three types, although the classification is not undisputed.

Rhizocorallium jenense
Rhizocorallium irregular
Rhizocorallium uliarense

The distinction is based exclusively on deviations in the formation of the traces, which can be traced back to different behaviors of the producer under different environmental conditions. The taxonomic position of the trace producer remains open. Most authors, however, attribute the trace to crustaceans .

literature

Ulrich Lehmann: Paleontological Dictionary . 4th edition. Ferdinand Enke Verlag, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-432-83573-6 , pp. 323 .
Kowal-Linka M., Bodzioch A. 2011. Sedimentological implications of an unusual form of the trace fossil Rhizocorallium from the Lower Muschelkalk (Middle Triassic), S. Poland. Facies 57: 695-703.

Web links

Rhizocorallium irregulare Mayer, 1954 from the Nusplinger Plattenkalk
Data sheet for Rhizocorallium jenense ZENKER, 1836
Different types of Rhizocorallium , Department of Environmental Studies, Emory University , Atlanta

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Rajkumar Hemanta Singh, Francisco J. Rodríguez-Tovar and Soibam Ibotombi: Trace Fossils of the Upper Eocene – Lower Oligocene Transition of the Manipur, Indo-Myanmar Ranges (Northeast India). Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences, Vol. 17, pp. 821–834, 2008 (pdf; 1.51 MB)

[Singh-1] A ^b Rajkumar Hemanta Singh, Francisco J. Rodríguez-Tovar and Soibam Ibotombi: Trace Fossils of the Upper Eocene – Lower Oligocene Transition of the Manipur, Indo-Myanmar Ranges (Northeast India). Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences, Vol. 17, pp. 821–834, 2008 (pdf; 1.51 MB)