Fossil Preservation and Trace Fossils Exercises 285 4. Exunine this photograph f
ID: 288380 • Letter: F
Question
Fossil Preservation and Trace Fossils Exercises 285 4. Exunine this photograph from Dinosaur Ridge near Morrison, Colorado and anower the following questions. a. Is the rock most probably of marine or nonmarine origin? b. What additional features would you look for to confirm your answer to question a, if you could examine the locality where these samples were collected? (List at least two things you would look for) c. How many different animals left their mark on the rock? Explain d. Are these tracks or trackways? e. What is a possible origin of the circular imprints near the larger three-toed tracks at the top of the image? 5. Examine the photograph below and answer the following questions. a What typeds) of animal behavior are suggested by the trails? b. What types of marine invertebrates may have produced these trails called Climactichnites?Explanation / Answer
4- a-) The rocks most probably be of marine origin because according to the books and field studies, most of the Dinasaur Ridges are of intermediate to shallow river origin.
b-)According to the image in the question the locality is most probably of Morrison Fossil Area,Colarado. The confirmation to my answer to the locality is assured by the presence of the trails of the dinosaurs and would also look for the ripple marks present there.
c-) According to the image given there, we can see that there are three different types of footprints available, so it makes clear at the presence of minimum three type of animals.
d-) This are the trackway , because we can see here two or more consecutive track of footprints.
e-)It must be the imprint of any other organisms with burrowing nature or else.
5-a-) According to the image, the behaviour of the animal must be crawling or burrowing into sediments, due to the consecutive trails in the given figure.
b-)The invertebrates responsible for this type of trail known as climactichenites are mostly due to the microbial mats present at the bottom of water bodies.
c-)From the figure it is very clear that there are also ripple marks present normal to the trackway.
d-) Sandstone