Turbulence, displacement, death and worms: a day in the life of a fluvial Carboniferous bivalve

Abstract

The recognition and interpretation of trace fossils can be critical to our understanding of 35 ancient sedimentary successions, particularly where body fossil preservation is rare. 36Although tracks, trails and burrows have been recognised in Carboniferous strata since 37 the mid nineteenth century (Binney 1852, on the Westphalian strata of Lancashire), it was 38 the pioneering work on Westphalian strata of Germany which established the relationship 39 of trace fossil assemblages to sedimentary and faunal cyclicity (Jessen 1949; Jessen et al. 40 1952;Seilacher 1963Seilacher , 1964. Continental invertebrate ichnology has become increasingly 41 important in sedimentary geology, particularly in terms of the interpretation of 42 palaeoenvironmental conditions, and hence prediction of facies associations and 43 distributions, the identification of key stratigraphic surfaces in the absence of temporally 44 distinctive body fossils, and also in our understanding of the evolution, behavioural 45 characteristics and environmental distributions of the trace makers (e.g. Buatois & 46 Mángano 2004, 2007 and references therein). Bivalves were one of the major trace fossil 47 producers present throughout the Phanerozoic; their environmental adaptability has seen 48 3 them conquer a diverse range of habitats during their long evolutionary history (e.g.,