View source for Biology:Climactichnites

{{Ichnobox
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Middle Cambrian|Late Cambrian}}
| image = Climactichnites ToddGass3.jpg
| image_caption = The trails ''Climactichnites wilsoni'' were produced across the surface of the sediment, [[Earth:Cambrian|Cambrian]], Blackberry Hill, Wisconsin.
| image2 = Climactichnites burrow Todd Gass 1.JPG
| image2_caption = The burrows ''Climactichnites youngi'' were produced within the sediment, Cambrian, Blackberry Hill, Wisconsin.
| taxon = Climactichnites
| authority = Logan, 1860
}}

'''''Climactichnites''''' is an enigmatic, [[Earth:Cambrian|Cambrian]] fossil formed on or within sandy tidal flats around {{Ma|510}}.
It has been interpreted in many different ways in the past, but is now thought to be a [[Biology:Trace fossil|trace fossil]] of a [[Biology:Slug|slug]]-like organism that moved by crawling to on-shore surfaces, or near-shore, or burrowing into the sediment.

==Morphology==
There are two species within this ichnogenus, ''C. wilsoni'' and'' C. youngi''.  ''C. wilsoni'' consists of paired lateral ridges between which are undulating bars and furrows oriented at an angle to the direction of travel, whereas ''C. youngi'' lacks the paired lateral ridges and consists only of undulating transverse bars and furrows.<ref name=Getty2008>{{Cite journal| first1 = P. R.| last1 = Getty | first2 = J. W.| title = Reinterpretation of Climactichnites Logan 1860 to Include Subsurface Burrows, and Erection of Musculopodus for Resting Traces of the Trailmaker| journal = Journal of Paleontology| volume = 82| issue = 6| pages = 1161–1172| year = 2008| doi = 10.1666/08-004.1| last2 =  Hagadorn | s2cid = 129732925 }}</ref> An additional trace fossil, called ''Musculopodus'', is sometimes found at the beginning of ''Climactichnites'' trails and represents the body imprint of the animal while it was stationary.<ref name=Getty2009/> ''Climactichnites'' range from 0.8 to 30&nbsp;cm wide and may exceed ten feet long, making ''Climactichnites'' by far the largest Cambrian trace fossil.<ref name="Getty2009"/> Based on measured ratios of ''Musculopodus'' imprints, the animal itself is estimated to have reached 69&nbsp;cm long.<ref name=Getty2009>{{Cite journal| first1 = P. R.| last1 = Getty | first2 = J. W.| title = Palaeobiology of the Climactichnites tracemaker| journal = Palaeontology| volume = 52| issue = 4| pages = 753–778| year = 2009| doi = 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2009.00875.x| last2 =  Hagadorn| doi-access = free}}</ref>

==Occurrence==
Currently, ''Climactichnites'' is known only from North America (Missouri, New York, Wisconsin, and Texas in the United States, and Quebec and Ontario in Canada), portions of which were submerged under a shallow equatorial sea during the Cambrian Period.<ref name=Getty2009/>  The fossil is found in fine- to coarse-grained sandstones and orthoquartzites which represent sandy, intertidal beach deposits.<ref name=Getty2009/>    Microbial mats probably enabled the trace to be preserved.<ref name=Getty2009/>

==Interpretation==
Early attempts to interpret the fossil as the body of an alga or siphonophore are easily falsified. ''Climactichnites'' is now thought to represent the trail or burrow of an organism moving, respectively, on top of or through the sediment.<ref name=Getty2009/> The animal apparently had a muscular foot and moved by extending either side of its body alternately (sometimes both sides may have been extended in unison) to produce the v-shaped transverse bars.<ref name=Getty2009/> Certainly the animal lacked any appendages, as is evidenced by cross-cutting relationships of the trail with sedimentary structures such as ripple marks.<ref name=Getty2009/>    While the identity of the trace-maker remains  conjectural, ''Climactichnites'' was most likely produced by a large slug-like mollusc; modern gastropods have been observed to produce similar traces.<ref name=Getty2009/>  Since it is often associated with surface-produced sedimentary structures, it may have been produced by one of the earliest animals to move about on land.<ref name=MacNaughton2002>{{Cite journal|last2=Cole|last3=Dalrymple|last4=Braddy|last5=Briggs|last1=MacNaughton| first1=R. B.| first2=J. M.| first3=R. W.| first4=S. J.| first5=D. E. G.| first6=T. D.|title=First steps on land: Arthropod trackways in Cambrian-Ordovician eolian sandstone, southeastern Ontario, Canada|journal=Geology|volume=30|issue=5|pages=391–394 | date=May 2002 |last6=Lukie|s2cid=130821454|issn=0091-7613|doi=10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0391:FSOLAT>2.0.CO;2|bibcode = 2002Geo....30..391M }}</ref>  The binding effect of microbial mats on the sediment surface is believed to have contributed to the exceptional preservation of ''Climactichnites'' trails.<ref name=Getty2009/><ref name=Getty2006>{{cite journal
 | author = Getty, P. R.
 | year = 2006
 | title = Producing And Preserving ''Climactichnites''
 | journal = Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs
 | volume = 38
 | issue = 7
 | page = 475
 | url = http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2006AM/finalprogram/abstract_111068.htm
 | accessdate = 2008-06-02
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120211152027/http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2006AM/finalprogram/abstract_111068.htm
 | archive-date = 2012-02-11
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*{{cite journal|author=Yochelson, E. L. and M. A. Fedonkin|title=Paleobiology of ''Climactichnites'', and Enigmatic Late Cambrian Fossil|journal=Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology|volume=74|issue=74|year=1993|pages= 1–74|doi=10.5479/si.00810266.74.1|url=https://www.archive.org/download/paleobiologycli74yoch/paleobiologycli74yoch.pdf}}
*Getty, P. R., and J. W. Hagadorn, 2006. Producing and preserving ''Climactichnites''. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 38, p.&nbsp;475.
*{{cite thesis|url=http://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/19/|author= P. R. Getty|type=Master's thesis|year= 2007|title=Paleobiology of the ''Climactichnites'' Trackmaker: An Enigmatic Late Cambrian Animal Known Only from Trace Fossils}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5133382}}

==External links==
*{{cite web|url=http://www.backtothepast.com.mx/ebonino/html/blackberry_hill.html|language=italian|title=Blackberry hill lagerstatte}}
:Includes additional photographs and information on ''Climactichnites'' from the exceptional Blackberry Hill localities.
*[http://www.paleoportal.org/index.php?globalnav=flora_fauna&sectionnav=assemblage&submission_id=1697#topoflist Blackberry hill fossils]
:Discusses a major source of ''Climactichnites'' trails.  With useful photograph slideshow.

[[Category:Incertae sedis]]

{{Sourceattribution|Climactichnites}}