Tonganoxichnus

Tonganoxichnus (‘Tonganoxie, Kansas trace’[3]) is a Pennsylvanian[1] to Permian[3] trace fossil that has been found in North America.[1]

Tonganoxichnus
Temporal range:
Trace fossil classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Archaeognatha
Suborder: †Monura
Ichnogenus: †Tonganoxichnus
Mángano et al. 2007
Ichnospecies
  • T. buildexensis Mángano et al. 2007[1]
  • T. ottawensis Mángano et al. 2007[1]
  • T. robledoensis Braddy and Briggs 2002[2]

The ichnogenus originally included two ichnospecies found in close association. T. buildexensis is interpreted as the resting trace of a primitive insect, often preserving the outline of the insect's underside in great detail. T. ottawensis is interpreted as a jumping trace, likely of the same kind of insect, and provides evidence of jumping as an important form of locomotion in the earliest insects.[1][3] The trace fossils are found in beds typical of the inner freshwater reaches of estuaries but subject to tides. This provides evidence of the environment in which the first insects evolved.[4]

References
  1. Mángano, M. Gabriela; Buatois, Luis A.; Maples, Christopher G.; Lanier, William P. (29 March 2007). "Tonganoxichnus a new insect trace from the Upper Carboniferous of eastern Kansas". Lethaia. 30 (2): 113–125. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1997.tb00451.x.
  2. Braddy, Simon J.; Briggs, Derek E. G. (May 2002). "New lower Permian nonmarine arthropod trace fossils from New Mexico and South Africa" (PDF). Journal of Paleontology. 76 (3): 546–557. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2002)076<0546:NLPNAT>2.0.CO;2. S2CID 62892559.
  3. Lucas, Spencer G. (2011). Traces of a Permian seacoast : Prehistoric Trackways National Monument. Albuquerque, N.M.: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. p. 22. ISBN 9780615471709.
  4. Mángano, Maria G.; Labandeira, Conrad C.; Kvale, Erik P.; Buatois, Luis A. (September 2001). "The insect trace fossil Tonganoxichnus from the middle Pennsylvanian of Indiana: Paleobiologic and paleoenvironmental implications". Ichnos. 8 (3–4): 165–175. doi:10.1080/10420940109380184. S2CID 55768024.


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