The medium is the message: Imaging a complex microboring (Pyrodendrina cupra igen. n., isp. n.) from the early Paleozoic of Anticosti Island, Canada

Abstract

Three complementary imaging techniques were used to describe a complex rosette-shaped microboring that penetrates the shells of brachiopods from the Ordovician - Silurian shallow marine limestones of Anticosti Island, Canada. Pyrodendrina cupra igen. and isp. n. is among the oldest dendrinid microborings and consists of shallow and deep penetrating canals that radiate from a central polyhedral chamber. The affinity of the tracemaker is unknown, but a foraminiferal origin, as proposed for some dendrinid borings, is rejected. Combining micro-CT with traditional stereomicroscopy and SEM helped distinguish and quantify fine morphological features while maintaining contextual information of the microboring within the shell substrate. Different imaging techniques inherently bias the description of microborings. These biases must be accounted for as new methods in ichnotaxonomy are integrated with past research based on different methods. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.