ammoglyph

American

[am-oh-glif, am-uh-] / ˈæm oʊˌglɪf, ˈæm ə- /

noun

a pattern or design originally created in sand by early humans and now fossilized.

The triangular shape etched into the sand-turned-rock is believed to be an ammoglyph.

Coined in 2019 by Canadian geologist Charles William Helm and colleagues; Greek ámmo(s) “sand” + glyph ( def. ); cf. ammophilous ( def. )

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023