Protichnites
2334793
216529517
2008-06-02T01:37:23Z
Kennethcgass
3930693
/* External links */ Added link to page that discusses a major source of Protichnites tracks.
[[Image:Protichnites.jpg|thumbnail|''Protichnites'' tracks from the late Cambrian of central Wisconsin]]
'''''Protichnites''''' is a genus of [[trace fossil]] consisting of the imprints made by the walking activity of [[arthropod]]s. It is likely that more than one type of arthropod was responsible for these tracks. [[Euthycarcinoid]]s, [[aglaspidid]]s (see [[Aglaspida]]) and [[eurypterid]]s are possible contributors. ''Protichnites'' consists of two rows of tracks and a linear depression between the two rows. This depression, which may be broken, set at an angle, and of varying width and depth, is thought to be the result of a dragging tail. The structures bearing this name were typically made on the tidal flats of [[Paleozoic]] seas, but similar ones extend into the [[Cenozoic]]. Its occurrence in late [[Cambrian]] sandstones of Canada and northern United States is evidence of some of the first life on land.
== References ==
*Hesselbo, SP. 1989. Trace fossils of Cambrian aglaspidid arthropods. Lethaia, 21:129-46.
*Hoxie, CT and JW Hagadorn. 2005. Late Cambrian arthropod trackways in subaerially exposed environments. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Northeastern Section. 37:12.
*Vaccari, NE, GD Edgecombe and C Escudero. 2004. Cambrian origins and affinities of an enigmatic fossil group of arthropods. Nature, 430:554-557.
== External links ==
*[http://www.keyobs.be/fr/ebonino/html/blackberry_hill.html Includes additional photographs and information on ''Protichnites'' from the exceptional Blackberry Hill localities; in Italian, but can be translated using Babel Fish.]
*[http://www.paleoportal.org/index.php?globalnav=flora_fauna§ionnav=assemblage&submission_id=1697#topoflist Discusses a major source of ''Protichnites'' tracks.]
[[Category:Prehistoric arthropods]]
[[Category:Cambrian life]]
[[Category:Trace fossils]]
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