Burrow fossils are the remains of
burrow
An Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow
A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of sh ...
s - holes or tunnels excavated into the ground or seafloor - by
animals to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of
locomotion preserved in the
rock record. Because burrow fossils represent the preserved byproducts of behavior rather than physical remains, they are considered a kind of
trace fossil. One common kind of burrow fossil is known as
Skolithos, and the similar
Trypanites,
Ophiomorpha and
Diplocraterion.
Vertebrate burrows
Fish burrows
Fossil
Lungfish
Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the order Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, i ...
burrows are preserved in the Rocky Point Member of the
Chinle Formation
The Chinle Formation is an Upper Triassic continental geological formation of fluvial, lacustrine, and palustrine to eolian deposits spread across the U.S. states of Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, western New Mexico, and western Colorado. In Ne ...
in
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their r ...
.
Invertebrate burrows
Examples are
Treptichnus pedum and
Arenicolites franconicus.
Footnotes
References
* Hunt, ReBecca K., Vincent L. Santucci and Jason Kenworthy. 2006. "A preliminary inventory of fossil fish from National Park Service units." in S.G. Lucas, J.A. Spielmann, P.M. Hester, J.P. Kenworthy, and V.L. Santucci (ed.s), Fossils from Federal Lands. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 34, pp. 63–69.
{{Subterranea
Burrow fossils