Mortichnia

A mortichnia is the "death march", or last walk, of a living creature.[1] These are sometimes preserved as fossil footprints.

A mortichnia left by a Mesolimulus walchi (on the far left), Jura Museum, Eichstätt
Closeup of the same Mesolimulus

Notable examples

In 2002 the mortichnia of a horseshoe crab was found in lithographic limestone in Bavaria, Germany.[2][1] The trail measured 9.7m and was left about 150 million years ago when the crab died in an anoxic lagoon.[1] The footprints left enough evidence for researchers to determine that the creature probably fell into the lagoon upside-down, righted itself, and started walking before succumbing to the anoxic conditions of the water.[1] The trackway is currently exhibited at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Fossil records 'crab' death march". BBC. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
  2. Lomax, Dean R.; Racay, Christopher A. (2012). "A Long Mortichnial Trackway of Mesolimulus walchi from the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Lithographic Limestone near Wintershof, Germany". Ichnos: An International Journal for Plant and Animal Traces. 19 (3): 175–183. doi:10.1080/10420940.2012.702704. S2CID 55610538.
  3. "Final Journey of the Horseshoe Crab: The Longest Mortichnial Trackway in the Fossil Record". Retrieved 2020-05-25.


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