Tonganoxichnus
| Tonganoxichnus Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
Trace fossil classification 
| |
| Ichnogenus: | †Tonganoxichnus Mángano et al. 1997 |
| Type ichnospecies | |
| Tonganoxichnus buildexensis Mángano et al. 1997
| |
| Ichnospecies | |
Tonganoxichnus (‘Tonganoxie, Kansas trace’[4]) is an ichnogenus of Pennsylvanian[2] to Permian[4] trace fossils that have been found in North America.[2] Tonganoxichnus traces are generally interpreted as being made by monurans, an extinct group of insects that are recognised as a suborder of Archaeognatha.[3][1][5]
The ichnogenus originally included two ichnospecies found in close association, T. buildexensis and T. ottawensis. 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.[2][4] 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.[6]
A 2015 revision of Tonganoxichnus transferred T. ottawensis to a new ichnogenus Cardinichnus, recognising that the ichnospecies represented behaviour distinct from that seen in Tonganoxichnus traces.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Benner, J.S.; Knecht, R.J.; Engel, M.S. (2015). "Tonganoxichnus: a revision of the ichnogenus with new material from Massachusetts". In McIlroy, D. (ed.). ICHNOLOGY: papers from ICHNIA III. Geological Association of Canada, Miscellaneous Publication. Vol. 9. pp. 31–43.
- ^ a b c d Mángano, M. Gabriela; Buatois, Luis A.; Maples, Christopher G.; Lanier, William P. (29 March 1997). "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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b c Lucas, Spencer G. (2011). Traces of a Permian seacoast : Prehistoric Trackways National Monument (PDF). Albuquerque, N.M.: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. pp. 30–31. ISBN 9780615471709.
- ^ Bechly, G.; Stockar, R. (2011). "The first Mesozoic record of the extinct apterygote insect genus Dasyleptus (Insecta: Archaeognatha: Monura: Dasyleptidae) from the Triassic of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland)" (PDF). Palaeodiversity. 4: 23–37.
- ^ 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.