Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

Journal of Paleontology

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by KNAUST, D. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

ICHNOGENUS PHOLEUS FIEGE, 1944, REVISITED

¹ A/S Norske Shell, Exploration & Production, Postboks 40, N-4098 Tananger, Norway, dirk.knaust{at}shell.no

The ichnogenus Pholeus Fiege, 1944, is a common constituent of the Lower Muschelkalk (Middle Triassic) carbonates of the Germanic Basin, where it occurs in the upper part of shallowing upward cycles. It is restricted to a marly limestone lithofacies and is commonly associated with omission and erosion surfaces. The dwelling structures (domichnia) were created in a shallow-marine to lagoonal paleoenvironment in an intertidal to shallow subtidal setting. New material from Thuringia and Lower Saxony makes a re-evaluation of Pholeus possible and confirms the validity of this ichnogenus. Certain features, such as general form, wall, lining, and branching differentiate it from similar trace fossils. In addition to the already described P. abomasoformis, three new ichnospecies are named for distinctive forms: P. bifurcatus, P. platiformis, and P. elongatus. Based on geometry, size, and wall lining, the burrow producers were most probably decapod crustaceans. Many similarities to modern burrows of Callianassa sp., Neocallichirus grandimina, and Nephrops norvegicus suggest thalassinian shrimps and lobsters as likely tracemakers of Pholeus burrows. Compound burrow systems and retrusive burrow parts with spreiten-like structures are common and point to an upward shifting of the burrows related to certain sediment input in relation to tidal currents.