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A new ichnospecies of Spongeliomorpha from the Pleistocene of Sicily

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Assunta D'Alessandro
Affiliation:
Dipartemento di Geologia e Geofisico, Campus Universitario, Bari University, 70125 Bari, Italy
Richard G. Bromley
Affiliation:
Geologisk Institut, Øster Voldgade 10, Copenhagen University, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark

Abstract

A branched, scratch-ornamented burrow system is described from early Pleistocene sediments of Sicily, Italy. The trace fossil occurs in a bed of volcanic ash beneath a shallow marine silty unit and is remarkable in possessing enlarged, ovoid chambers above the multiple branching points of a maze. The structure, named Spongeliomorpha sicula, was probably produced by crustaceans. A likely interpretion is as an agrichnion, in which microbial gardening took place in the chambers.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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