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FOSSILS ET AL.
How to Bird: 50 Million-Year-Old Fossil Traces Reveal Ancient Waterbird Feeding Strategies
New study describes the discovery and classification of four new ichnospecies dating to the Eocene period
Have you ever been to a lake? If yes, you may remember walking through the soft, muddy shoreline. If you were paying attention, you would have noticed that there were dozens, if not hundreds, of footprints, squiggles, lines, and imprints. Some were made by worms crawling through the sediment, others were footprints of birds, and others still were little tunnels made by creatures that buried themselves in the murky depths.
These shorelines are important feeding grounds for any waterbirds, especially during migration, when they flock to such shores in droves. It is thus not surprising that fossilized footprints (ichnofossils) can often be found along ancient lake-edges. However, while such fossilized footprints are common, trace fossils preserving behaviors alongside footprints are rare.
Researchers Dr. John-Paul Zonneveld, Dr. Sarah Naone, and Dr. Brooks Britt recently described the discovery and classification of four new ichnotaxon (fossilized trace taxon). The fossilized feeding marks alongside footprints reveal how…
