Rhizocorallium
| Rhizocorallium | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Bedding plane view of Rhizocorallium from the Snapper Point Formation (Permian), New South Wales. | |
| Trace fossil classification | |
| Ichnogenus: |
Rhizocorallium Zenker, 1836 |
Rhizocorallium is an ichnogenus type of burrow, the inclination of which is typically within 10° of the bedding planes of the sediment. These burrows can be very large, over a meter long in sediments that show good preservation, e.g. Jurassic rocks of the Yorkshire Coast (eastern United Kingdom), but the width is usually only up to 2 cm, restricted by the size of the organisms producing it. It is thought that they represent fodinichnia as the animal (probably a nematode) scoured the sediment for food.
The ichnogenus Rhizocorallium Zenker 1836 includes three ichnospecies: Rhizocorallium jenense Zenker 1836 representing straight, short U-shaped spreiten-burrows commonly oblique to bedding plane, and only rarely horizontal, Rhizocorallium irregulare Mayer 1954 representing long, sinuous, bifurcating or planispiral U-shaped spreiten-burrows, mainly horizontal, and Rhizocorallium uliarense Firtion 1958 representing trochospiral U-shaped spreiten-burrows (definitions after Fürsich 1974).
...
Wikipedia