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Re: Mesozoic burrows?



At 10:55 PM -0400 7/29/01, Ray Stanford wrote:
    John Bois asked, "Are there any burrows known from the Mesozoic--burrows
from small to middle size mammals?"

    I have recovered six burrows from the Early Cretaceous of Maryland,
right in your 'stomping ground', John. They are not the long, beautifully
spiraled type I have seen at the Smithsonian's NMNH, however.  Each is
hollow, with walls more consolidated (and by whatever means tougher) than
the matrix.  The longest I have found is only about 20 cm.  In most cases
there is a wider, oval opening that tapers into the burrow.  In a different
type, there is a small opening of about 18 mm diameter, but this opens into
a rather remarkable chamber of about the volume of a medium to large
grapefruit.

    Having no well-informed idea of what kind of animals made the burrows,
crayfish

Cray fish leave distinctive scratches along the sides of a burrow, often in a somewhat chevron shape.


Burrowing clams are culprits that can even coil a burrow.


and large, burrowing insects come to mind.

Don't forget those attracted by death. The ones that burrow next to a carcass leave fascinating burrows.



Another interesting burrow-shaped find from the Early Cretaceous of Maryland in just under 8 cm long, with a wall thickness of roughly 17 mm, and with its internal cylindrical hollow being roughly 4 cm in diameter. It was constructed by mud-cementing what seem to have been small sticks. While the several dinosaur paleontologists who have seen it have been puzzled as to its maker, a well-informed geologist/naturalist friend assures me that it is a fossilized "crayfish tower". It is in great shape, and if the friend is right, I suspect it may be a rather rare fossil find, for the Late Cretaceous.


I actually collected a Bifungites this past week in the Lance Formation that is the thickness of my forearm. I think it is the first occurrence of "Arthraria" or "Bifungites" in the Cretaceous, and it is certainly the largest of such I have ever seen. The thing is obscene and I am certain it could be used for a gavel at the next Paleo Society Luncheon. Roy Plotnick (aka "ROT") is going to love it.

Cheers,
Marilyn W,
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                        =00=  =00=  =00=  =00=
                        Marilyn D. Wegweiser, Ph.D.
                Adjunct Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology
                        Cincinnati Museum Center
                     Geier Collections and Research Center


mdwegweiser@bsu.edu; coupequeen@home.com Office: 765-285-8268;765-285-8270 FAX: 765-285-8265