A new earthworm trace fossil from paleosols: Aestivation chambers from the Late Pleistocene Sopas Formation of Uruguay |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Geology Graduate Program, Unisinos University, Av. Unisinos 950, 93022-750 São Leopoldo, RS, Brazil;2. Department of Geosciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063, USA;3. Dpt. de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l''Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain;4. IRBio (Biodiversity Research Institute), Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain;1. Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra y del Medio Ambiente, Universidad de Alicante, Apdo.99, 03080 Alicante, Spain;2. Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Universitá degli Studi di Perugia, via Pascoli snc, 16123 Perugia, Italy;1. Micropaleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste y Área Paleontología, Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral, Centro Científico Tecnológico Nordeste, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, C.C.128, 3400 Corrientes, Argentina;2. Program in Integrated Bioscience, Department of Biology, B202, The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-4101, USA;3. Instituto de Geocronología y Geología Isotópica, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428EHA Buenos Aires, Argentina |
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| Abstract: | A new ichnotaxon, attributed to earthworm aestivation chambers, is described from paleosols of the Sopas Formation (Upper Pleistocene) of northern Uruguay. This ichnofossil consists of a spherical chamber with a constructed wall of imbricated faecal pellets and a filling of rounded to meniscate pellets arranged in winding strings. The strings may also be connected to specimens of Taenidium serpentinum in the paleosol, resulting in a compound trace fossil. Castrichnus incolumis igen. et isp. nov. is interpreted as an earthworm aestivation chamber based on its morphological similarity to the chambers produced by extant earthworms. As such, C. incolumis is considered an indicator of subaerial exposure, and also of seasonal climate. C. incolumis is the second trace fossil that can be attributed with certainty to earthworms. In addition, the Castrichnus–T. serpentinum compound specimens indicate that in paleosols, earthworms can be the producers of T. serpentinum. Aestivation chambers would represent a new ethological category. |
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