Cutting through sponge and time – a new record of Koptichnus rasmussenae (trace fossil) from the Kerteminde Marl (middle Paleocene), Denmark

Abstract

A new trace fossil, Koptichnus rasmussenae, was recently reported from the Cretaceous of Denmark. This burrow is thickly lined with cuboids that the tracemaker cut from siliceous sponges. A newly discovered specimen from the lower Selandian Kerteminde Marl, found in a loose boulder in the Gundstrup gravel pit (Fyn, Denmark), extends the stratigraphical range of this ichnotaxon from the previously known Coniacian to the middle Paleocene and demonstrates that this distinct behaviour of harvesting and shaping building material survived the K-Pg extinction event.