Caprionichnus, a new trace fossil from the Caradocian of southern Norway

✍ Scribed by T. L. Harland

• Book ID: 102845268
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1978
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 615 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0072-1050
• DOI: 10.1002/gj.3350130109

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Caprionichnus steinvikensis ichnogen. et sp. nov. is described from a mixed carbonate‐terrigenous mudstone sequence of offshore marine origin, which forms the upper part of the Encrinite Limestone (Caradocian) in the Langesund area of southern Norway. The trace fossil is characterised by a chevron‐like arrangement of burrow pairs, some with a common central burrow. Systems consist of two to eight burrow pairs, burrow diameter varies between 5·5 and 11 mm and the angle between the paired burrows ranges between 41° and 67°. The burrows are interpreted as resulting from the probing activities of a deposit feeding organism with similar behaviour to that deduced for the producer of Chondrites by Simpson (1957), and it is suggested that the producer of Caprionichnus was capable of living both within and above its feeding level.