Gyrochorte “highways” and their environmental significance in shallow-marine sediments
The reworking of a trace by a subsequently following organism represents a so-called sequorichnial behavior and leads to formation of a “burrowing highway”. Burrowing highways occur more frequently than assumed in the fossil record. Their ichnological and sedimentological meaning is elucidated by us...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institute of Paleobiology PAS
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app65/app006552019.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818852160596606976 |
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| author | Andreas Wetzel Noelia B. Carmona Juan J. Ponce |
| author_facet | Andreas Wetzel Noelia B. Carmona Juan J. Ponce |
| author_sort | Andreas Wetzel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The reworking of a trace by a subsequently following organism represents a so-called sequorichnial behavior and leads to formation of a “burrowing highway”. Burrowing highways occur more frequently than assumed in the fossil record. Their ichnological and sedimentological meaning is elucidated by using the trace fossil Gyrochorte. Gyrochorte producers exploiting sandy event beds tend to use “burrowing highways” in the same direction. Evidently, the Gyrochorte producers are thigmotactically highly sensitive as they can recognize a burrow produced by the same species because of the less densely packed grains, a somewhat increased mud content, and supposedly mucus segregated within the burrow. These changes make the reworking of pre-existing burrows energetically advantageous. However, in shallow-marine settings mucus is degraded rapidly and loose sediment consolidates in a short while. Therefore, the time to recognize a pre-existing burrow appears to be limited and a rather high number of organisms is a prerequisite for reutilization of a previous trace. “Burrow highways” potentially represent an additional criterion to characterize an opportunistic population strategy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T07:16:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e9509bec8e0942dda61b697486d74ec2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0567-7920 1732-2421 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T07:16:30Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | Institute of Paleobiology PAS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |
| spelling | doaj.art-e9509bec8e0942dda61b697486d74ec22022-12-21T20:31:04ZengInstitute of Paleobiology PASActa Palaeontologica Polonica0567-79201732-24212020-03-0165120921810.4202/app.00655.2019Gyrochorte “highways” and their environmental significance in shallow-marine sedimentsAndreas Wetzel0Noelia B. Carmona1Juan J. Ponce2Departement Umweltwissenschaften, Geologie, Universität Basel, Bernoullistrasse 32, CH-4056 Basel, SwitzerlandCONICET, Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, General Roca. 8332, Rio Negro, ArgentinaCONICET, Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, General Roca. 8332, Rio Negro, ArgentinaThe reworking of a trace by a subsequently following organism represents a so-called sequorichnial behavior and leads to formation of a “burrowing highway”. Burrowing highways occur more frequently than assumed in the fossil record. Their ichnological and sedimentological meaning is elucidated by using the trace fossil Gyrochorte. Gyrochorte producers exploiting sandy event beds tend to use “burrowing highways” in the same direction. Evidently, the Gyrochorte producers are thigmotactically highly sensitive as they can recognize a burrow produced by the same species because of the less densely packed grains, a somewhat increased mud content, and supposedly mucus segregated within the burrow. These changes make the reworking of pre-existing burrows energetically advantageous. However, in shallow-marine settings mucus is degraded rapidly and loose sediment consolidates in a short while. Therefore, the time to recognize a pre-existing burrow appears to be limited and a rather high number of organisms is a prerequisite for reutilization of a previous trace. “Burrow highways” potentially represent an additional criterion to characterize an opportunistic population strategy.http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app65/app006552019.pdfpolychaeteichnologybehavioursequorichniacretaceousargentina |
| spellingShingle | Andreas Wetzel Noelia B. Carmona Juan J. Ponce Gyrochorte “highways” and their environmental significance in shallow-marine sediments Acta Palaeontologica Polonica polychaete ichnology behaviour sequorichnia cretaceous argentina |
| title | Gyrochorte “highways” and their environmental significance in shallow-marine sediments |
| title_full | Gyrochorte “highways” and their environmental significance in shallow-marine sediments |
| title_fullStr | Gyrochorte “highways” and their environmental significance in shallow-marine sediments |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gyrochorte “highways” and their environmental significance in shallow-marine sediments |
| title_short | Gyrochorte “highways” and their environmental significance in shallow-marine sediments |
| title_sort | gyrochorte highways and their environmental significance in shallow marine sediments |
| topic | polychaete ichnology behaviour sequorichnia cretaceous argentina |
| url | http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app65/app006552019.pdf |
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