Spiral-shaped graphoglyptids from an Early Permian intertidal flat

Spiral-shaped foraging trace fossils, assigned to the grapho glyptid cf. Spirorhaphe azteca, are reported from an Early Permian intertidal flat in the Robledo Mountains of southern New Mexico, USA. Remarkably similar spiral-shaped structures are produced in modern intertidal flats by the paraonid po...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 2006-12, Vol.34 (12), p.1057-1060
Main Authors: Minter, Nicholas J, Buatois, Luis A, Lucas, Spencer G, Braddy, Simon J, Smith, Joshua A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
affinities
Azteca
burrows
clastic rocks
coastal environment
Dona Ana County New Mexico
fossilization
Fossils
Geological time
Graphoglyptidae
Hueco Limestone
ichnofacies
ichnofossils
intertidal environment
Invertebrata
Lower Permian
modern analogs
morphology
Nereites
New Mexico
paleoecology
Paleozoic
Paraonis fulgens
Permian
Polychaetia
Preservation
Robledo Mountains
Robledo Mountains Formation
sandstone
Scarcity
sedimentary rocks
Sediments
siltstone
southern New Mexico
Spiroraphe azteca
Spirorhaphe azteca
Stratigraphy
tidal flats
Trace elements
United States
Vermes
Wolfcampian
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Summary:Spiral-shaped foraging trace fossils, assigned to the grapho glyptid cf. Spirorhaphe azteca, are reported from an Early Permian intertidal flat in the Robledo Mountains of southern New Mexico, USA. Remarkably similar spiral-shaped structures are produced in modern intertidal flats by the paraonid polychaete Paraonis fulgens, and function as traps to capture mobile microorganisms migrating in the sediment in response to tides. We envisage a similar function for the Early Permian trace fossils. Previous studies have suggested that the lack of P. fulgens-type traces from ancient intertidal deposits indicates that such behavior only evolved geologically recently in such settings. However, this report demonstrates that such specialized foraging behavior was present in intertidal settings by at least the Early Permian. Graphoglyptids are typical of deep-marine settings, and characteristic of the Nereites ichnofacies. This represents their first undoubted occurrence in intertidal facies in the geological record. We postulate that the occurrence of graphoglyptids in deep-marine and intertidal settings is related to the predictability of resources. The scarcity of intertidal graphoglyptids in the geological record is most likely a preservational effect.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/G22722A.1