The role of continental trace fossils in cenozoic paleoenvironmental and paleoecological reconstructions

Abstract

Trace fossils are the preserved remains of burrows, tracks, trails, nests, borings, or any other record of the behavioral interaction between an organism and a substrate. This chapter reviews the significance of trace fossils to paleoenvironmental and paleoecological studies with an emphasis on their application to the interpretation of Cenozoic continental deposits. Topics include the behavioral and environmental significance of trace fossils, methods utilized in studying trace fossils in outcrop and core, as well as analogous traces of extant organisms, and the strengths, biases, and limitations of trace-fossil data and analyses. The utility of continental trace fossils to paleoecological, paleoenvironmental, and paleoclimatic interpretations are illustrated by two case studies of continental depositional environments from the Eocene-Oligocene and Miocene of North America. Future areas of research with trace fossils then are discussed including experimental and field research with modern organisms and digitization of both modern and ancient traces.