Trace fossil

Can you fossilize an action?

You actually can through something called trace fossils or ichnofossils.

Ichnofossils.

Right.

Oh, I love that analogy.

Yeah.

Trace fossils show us the animal in motion.

Ah, I see.

Familiar labels can mislead because a frond-shaped body is not automatically a plant and a disc is not automatically a jellyfish.

Researchers compare growth patterns, internal organization, trace fossils, chemistry, and position in communities.

A few forms fit within or near animal groups with growing confidence.

Others may represent extinct branches with no close living counterpart.

Fossils associated with Dickinsonia have been interpreted as feeding traces left while the organism moved across microbial surfaces.

Organic molecules preserved with Dickinsonia also support an animal affinity, although classification at finer levels remains debated.

Trace fossils are especially important because behavior can reveal an animal even when its body is absent.

A path through sediment records muscles, coordination, and interaction with a surface.