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The oldest Zoophycos and implications for Early Cambrian deposit feeding

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2012

AARON SAPPENFIELD ,
MARY DROSER ,
MARTIN KENNEDY  and
RYAN MCKENZIE
AARON SAPPENFIELD*
Affiliation:
University of California, Riverside, Department of Earth Sciences, 900 University Ave., Riverside CA 92521, USA
MARY DROSER
Affiliation:
University of California, Riverside, Department of Earth Sciences, 900 University Ave., Riverside CA 92521, USA
MARTIN KENNEDY
Affiliation:
University of Adelaide, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, South Australia, 5005, Australia
RYAN MCKENZIE
Affiliation:
University of California, Riverside, Department of Earth Sciences, 900 University Ave., Riverside CA 92521, USA
*
†Author for correspondence: aaron.sappenfield@email.ucr.edu
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Abstract

Zoophycos-group burrows are prevalent elements of the post-Cambrian trace fossil record. Here we report the oldest specimens of Zoophycos from Lower Cambrian strata of the Lower Member Wood Canyon Formation in southeastern California. In addition to these being the oldest examples of this well-known trace fossil, the discovery of these specimens also reveals the presence of deposit feeding considerably earlier than has been suggested for the advent of this feeding style. This type of activity may have had a significant impact on sediment mixing during the Precambrian–Cambrian transition, though the rarity and shallow tier position of these specimens suggests otherwise.

Keywords

Zoophycosdeposit feedingCambriantrace fossilPrecambrianichnologybioturbation
Type
Rapid Communication
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 149 , Issue 6 , November 2012 , pp. 1118 - 1123
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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