Re: Mesozoic burrows?

["Nicholas D. Pyenson" <npyenso@learnlink.emory.edu>]

coupequeen@home.com writes:
>It depends on what you want to call an animal. If you include 
>invertebrates as you should then yes, there are tons of burrows. Tons.

indeed -- i might add that there's a whole sub-discipline called
continental ichnology which examines how terrestrial trace fossils
can provide specific paleoenvironmental interpretations &etc in addition
to "fossil behavior."  

as for burrows -- like Marilyn said, there's more invertebrate burrows
out there (Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic) than you can shake a stick at. 
once you get your eye trained
they're literally everywhere (the spectrum from marine to terrestrial
sediments -- 
and then consider how hymenopteran nests and mounds might even fall into
that 
category...mind boggling).
the crayfish and fiddler crab burrows in salt and freshwater marshes out
here on the east coast 
are great modern examples of the myriad and multitude of burrows
invertebrates can make in a 
depositional environment...

 i'm not well versed in vertebrate burrows but i'd be interested to know
if there are any interpreted turtle burrows out there (like gopher
tortoises -- something like that
*should* be fairly recognizable in the fossil record) -- again i
suggesting contacting HP Tony Martin...

HP Steve Hasiotis (who is now at Kansas i think) is the one to talk to 
about continental ichnology if you're interested...

cheers,

nick

Nick Pyenson
21943 Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30322