HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hembree, D. I. Articles by Hasiotis, S. T. Search for Related Content

The Identification and Interpretation of Reptile Ichnofossils in Paleosols Through Modern Studies

¹ Department of Geological Sciences, Ohio University, 316 Clippinger Laboratories, Athens, Ohio 45701, U.S.A.; hembree{at}ohio.edu
² Department of Geology/Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, University of Kansas, 1475 Jayhawk Boulevard, 120 Lindley Hall, Lawrence, Kansas 66046, U.S.A.

The soil ecosystems of modern floodplains of North America, South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and western Asia are the habitat of a group of limbless, fossorial reptiles (Order Amphisbaenia). Although body fossils are relatively abundant in North American Paleocene and Neogene paleosols, no ichnofossils are attributed to these organisms, largely because the morphologies present in modern burrows have not been studied. Because ichnofossils tend to have a higher preservation potential than body fossils, knowledge of the architectural and surficial burrow morphologies of such burrowing vertebrates as amphisbaenians can lead to the knowledge of their true stratigraphic and geographic ranges.

The behavioral responses of a common South American amphisbaenian to variations in soil composition, moisture, and cohesion were studied in the laboratory so that the architectural and surficial morphology of their burrows could be tied to these environmental changes. Qualitative and quantitative models were designed to describe the morphology of the amphisbaenian burrows and then used to distinguish them from other floodplain burrowers, including skinks, scorpions, and crayfish. Amphisbaenians were found to produce unique two- and three-dimensional biogenic structures that could be both distinguished from those of other organisms and tied to specific environmental conditions. From these data, variations in the morphology of amphisbaenian ichnofossils can provide more accurate interpretations not only of the paleoecology, paleoenvironment, and paleoclimate of floodplain paleosols but also of rates of sedimentation.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. J. Smith, S. T. Hasiotis, M. J. Kraus, and D. T. Woody Relationship of Floodplain Ichnocoenoses to Paleopedology, Paleohydrology, and Paleoclimate in the Willwood Formation, Wyoming, During the Paleocene-eocene Thermal Maximum Palaios, October 1, 2008; 23(10): 683 - 699. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. J. Smith and S. T. Hasiotis Traces and burrowing behaviors of the cicada nymph Cicadetta calliope: Neoichnology and paleoecological significance of extant soil-dwelling insects Palaios, August 1, 2008; 23(8): 503 - 513. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. B. Loope Life Beneath the Surfaces of Active Jurassic Dunes: Burrows from the Entrada Sandstone of South-Central Utah Palaios, June 1, 2008; 23(6): 411 - 419. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. I. Hembree and S. T. Hasiotis Biogenic Structures Produced by Sand-Swimming Snakes: A Modern Analog for Interpreting Continental Ichnofossils Journal of Sedimentary Research, May 1, 2007; 77(5): 389 - 397. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]