The fish swimming trace Undichna unisulca from the Silurian of Sweden: probably the oldest vertebrate locomotion trace fossil |
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| Authors: | Dirk Knaust Nicholas J. Minter |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Statoil ASA, Stavanger, Norway;2. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK |
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| Abstract: | The fish swimming trace Undichna unisulca is reported from a sandstone block collected from the Upper Silurian (Ludlow) Burgsvik Formation of Gotland, Sweden. It represents the oldest record of a vertebrate trace (apart from coprolites), predating previous finds from the Lower Devonian by at least 10 Ma. A thelodont or acanthodian fish may have produced the sinusoidal trails with the aid of their caudal or anal fins while browsing slowly over the sediment whilst searching for food. |
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| Keywords: | Fish Silurian Sweden trace fossil
Undichna
vertebrate |
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