RAEDERICHNUS DONDASI A NEW TRACE FOSSIL FROM THE EARLY PALEOZOIC OF ARGENTINA REVEALS SHOALING BEHAVIOR IN EARLY FISH
Author:
HALPERN KAREN12, GOUIRIC-CAVALLI SOLEDAD23, TAGLIORETTI MATIAS L.14, FARENGA MARCELO1, SCAGLIA FERNANDO4, MARCILESE LYDIA CALVO25, DEL RÍO JULIO L.1
Affiliation:
1. 1 Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario (CIC-UNMdP), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Dean Funes 3250, B7602AYJ, Mar del Plata, Argentina 2. 2 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, C1425FQB, CABA, Argentina 3. 3 División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, B1900FWA, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina 4. 4 Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales Lorenzo Scaglia, Av. Libertad 3099, B7600HJB, Mar del Plata, Argentina 5. 5 Laboratorio de Bioestratigrafía, Área de Geociencias, YPF Tecnología S.A., Avenida del Petróleo Argentino S/N (e/ 129 y 143) Berisso, CP: 1925, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Abstract
Abstract
Although vertebrate carcasses––particularly those assigned to fishes––are abundant in the fossil record, the literature rarely mentions fishes as trace producers. Herein we present evidence that was possibly overlooked in previous studies. Study of more than 100 large, shallow, teardrop-shaped, imprints that are aligned, with few overlapping each other, from early Paleozoic (probably Silurian based on trace fossils) outcrops in western Gondwana (southeastern Argentina), are identified as the oldest example of shoaling behavior. To understand the nature of the behavior, we considered analog (vertebrate and invertebrate) extant and extinct taxa. We compare and discuss the superficial similarities with certain traces, in particular Selenichnites isp. and erect a new ichnotaxon, Raederichnus dondasi isp. nov. for the Argentinian material. We report for the first time from the Balcarce Formation Psammichnites isp., in association with Herradurichnus scagliai, both forming minor components of the ichnoassemblage. Raederichnus dondasi and the accompanying traces are preserved in three-dimensional dunes, developed in a tide-dominated shallow marine environment. Given the morphological resemblance, and paleoecological context, we consider that Raederichnus dondasi might have been produced by fish while “resting”. Finally, this aggregation of trace fossils suggests shoaling related to feeding or breeding on the shallow marine bottom surface.
Publisher
Society for Sedimentary Geology
Subject
Paleontology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
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