Collecting invertebrate trace fossils

Abstract

Trace fossils result from the behavioural activities between organisms and variable substrates. They form an integral part of the collections of many natural history museums, providing exciting specimens for display and important material for scientific research. Ichnofossils preserved parallel to stratification in sedimentary rocks can be collected in large slabs either from float or liberated by hammering or rock saw. Laterally extensive specimens commonly have a repetitive morphology, so a fragment may provide ample data for identification and description. The morphology of an ichnofossil that cross-cuts stratification will be more difficult to recognise in the field and may require laboratory preparation of slabs using a rock saw. Bioerosive structures in or on litho- or bioclasts may be easy to collect, but care must be taken to collect data relating to provenance, that is, whether the clasts are autochthonous or allochthonous.