A NEW PSILONICHNUS ICHNOSPECIES ATTRIBUTED TO MUD–SHRIMP UPOGEBIA IN ESTUARINE SETTINGS

Psilonichnus lutimuratus n. ichnosp. is described from a Pliocene estuarine-mouth depositional environment (Skolithos ichnofacies) of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, U.S.A. These simple Y-, I-, and J-shaped, mud-lined burrows occur in situ as dense patches within alternating, wavy-bedded sandston...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of paleontology 2002-09, Vol.76 (5), p.892-901
Main Authors: NESBITT, ELIZABETH A, CAMPBELL, KATHLEEN A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arthropoda
burrows
Cenozoic
Coasts
Crabs
Crustacea
Estuaries
estuarine environment
Fossils
Geological facies
Geology
Grays Harbor County Washington
ichnofossils
Invertebrata
invertebrate
Mandibulata
modern analogs
morphology
Mud
Neogene
new taxa
Olympic Peninsula
paleoecology
Paleontology
Pliocene
Psilonichnus
Psilonichnus lutimuratus
Quinault Formation
Sandstone
Sediments
Shellfish
Shrimp
taxonomy
Tertiary
Trace fossils
United States
Upogebia
Washington
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Description
Summary:Psilonichnus lutimuratus n. ichnosp. is described from a Pliocene estuarine-mouth depositional environment (Skolithos ichnofacies) of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, U.S.A. These simple Y-, I-, and J-shaped, mud-lined burrows occur in situ as dense patches within alternating, wavy-bedded sandstone and mudstone in a storm and flood influenced coastal sequence from an active tectonic margin. The I- and J-shaped traces represent erosional modification of burrow tops during storm-flood events. The new ichnospecies differs from the two other Psilonichnus ichnospecies by the distinct mud-lining of the burrow wall. Comparison with living thalassinoidean shrimp burrows and shrimp ecology allow this new ichnospecies to be attributed to the extant mud shrimp Upogebia. Biological and behavioral characteristics of this living shrimp restrict it to the mouth of the open estuary, and these parameters can be used to narrowly define a shoreline environment in the stratigraphic record.
ISSN:0022-3360
1937-2337
DOI:10.1666/0022-3360(2002)076<0892:ANPIAT>2.0.CO;2