Skolithos

Skolithos
Temporal range: Early Cambrian–Present
Skolithos trace fossils. Scale bar is 10 mm.
Trace fossil classification Edit this classification
Ichnogenus: Skolithos
Haldeman, 1840
Skolithos from Kraków am See, Germany.
Skolithos in a bed of the Dakota Formation, New Mexico, US

Skolithos (formerly spelled Scolithus or Skolithus[1]) is a common trace fossil ichnogenus that is, or was originally, an approximately vertical cylindrical burrow with a distinct lining. It was produced globally by a variety of organisms, mostly in shallow marine environments, and appears as linear features in sedimentary rocks.[2]

  1. ^ Gevers, T.W.; Frakes, L.A.; Edwards, L.N.; Marzolf, J.E. (1971). "Trace Fossils in the Lower Beacon Sediments (Devonian), Darwin Mountains, Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica". Journal of Paleontology. 45 (1): 81–94. JSTOR 1302754.
  2. ^ Desjardins, P. R.; Mángano, M.G.; Buatois, L. A.; Pratt, B. R. (2010). "Skolithos pipe rock and associated ichnofabrics from the southern Rocky Mountains, Canada: colonization trends and environmental controls in an early Cambrian sand-sheet complex". Lethaia. 43 (4): 507. Bibcode:2010Letha..43..507D. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.2009.00214.x.