Re: Ichnotaxa (was RE: dino tracks near Syracuse?)

["Andy Farke" <andyfarke@hotmail.com>]

R. Irmis wrote:

"This is very true.  I think Seilacher (spelling?) tried to remedy this
situation somewhat with invertebrate traces by classifying them by behavior
instead of phylogenetic position, although he still retained the Linnean
binomial for each taxa.  Has anyone tried to do this with vertebrate traces?
I realize one would have to subdivide the "locomotion" traces into something
useful, but it might help?"

It all depends on how you want to use your track data. As I understand it,
invertebrate ichnofossils are mainly used to infer environment or facies
(hence, the Cruziana facies, Skolithos facies, etc.). We have Skolithos
going back to the Cambrian--it's almost certainly not the same animals
making Skolithos today, but ones with similar behavior and general body
form. You can have a wide variety of animals (different phyla, even) making
similar ichnofossils.

To me, it's a different case when working with vertebrate (especially
dinosaur) ichnotaxa. They're more often used for paleoecological,
behavioral, or biomechanical studies, in which it's desirable to know the
precise identity (or a reasonable approximation) of the track maker. Simply
knowing that dinosaurs were usually just walking across a mud flat isn't
terribly useful. . .

Any other thoughts on this?

Andy
_______________________________
Andrew A. Farke
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Box P404
501 East St. Joseph Street
Rapid City, SD  57701

605-394-2816

andyfarke@hotmail.com