Trace Fossils Interpreted in Relation to the Extant Termite Fauna at Laetoli, Tanzania

Abstract

The Laetolil Beds of Pliocene volcanic ashes contain numerous trace fossils. Many of them resemble the hives and foraging passages of extant termites, having been preserved and more or less altered by deposition of calcite and other minerals from ground water. The most abundant nest-like structures at Locs. 9 and 10 resemble hives of the termite Macrotermes herus that still occurs at the site. At Loc. 10W the commonest nest-like structures are flattened ovoids, which seem to have been small discrete hives filled with thin carton shelves. No exact modern counterpart is known. Several rarer types of hives may have been built by other Macrotermes species, and some by Apicotermitinae. At Kakesio a series of small, distinctive fossil hives with thick carton shelves and walls seem to have been built by another termite, of which again no modern counterpart is known. The extant termite fauna at Laetoli is briefly described. The general lack of information about the structures built by modern termites is discussed.