Trace Fossils
Imagine the squelch!
Footprints of people, birds, and dogs at the beach. Most of us have probably seen this kind of thing. Look a little closer and you will see other markings in the sand or mud – skinny trails meandering across the surface, or burrows.
Sometimes you will see the critter that made these. We can also observe structures like these preserved in many kinds of sedimentary rock; we call them Trace Fossils. The study of trace fossils is also called Ichnology (a branch of Paleontology), but we’ll stick to the more intuitive name trace fossil. Continue reading