A predatory Rusophycus burrow from the Cambrian of southern New Brunswick, eastern Canada

Abstract

A specimen of the trilobite-produced trace fossil Rusophycus is intimately associated with the annelid-produced meandering burrow Helminthopsis hieroglyphica on the upper surface of an amalgamated quartz arenite of the King Square Formation (late Middle - early Late Cambrian), Saint John Group, southern New Brunswick. Observations suggest that the rusophycid reflects, and is a rather unusual example of, predatory behaviour. Similar, but rare, examples have only occasionally been reported in the geologic record. The occurrence documented herein is the first from strata of this age and also the first from Canada.