Dictyodora and associated trace fossils from the Palaeozoic of Thuringia |
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Authors: | MICHAEL J BENTON |
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Institution: | Nature Conservancy Council, Pearl House, Bartholomew Street, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 5LS, England, U.K. |
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Abstract: | Dictyodora occurs in the Hauptquarzit (Late Ordovician; D. zimmermanni) and Bordenschiefer (Early Carboniferous; D. liebeana) of Thuringia, East Germany. It is absent in the Early Devonian Nereitenquarzit, and analysis of the trace fossil assemblages points to environmental partitioning within the ‘deep-sea’Nereites Association. The Carboniferous Dictyodora was much larger than the Early Palaeozoic forms and had a long respiratory (?) wall organ. This may have been an adaptation to feeding deeper in anoxic sediments, and the animal developed large ‘parapodia’ to effect its progression through the sediment. |
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Keywords: | Trace fossils Palaeozoic Nereites Association Thuringia Dictyodora |
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