trace fossil

American  

noun

1. a fossilized track, trail, burrow, boring, or other structure in sedimentary rock that records the presence or behavior of the organism that made it.

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trace fossil British  

noun

1. the fossilized remains of a track, trail, footprint, burrow, etc, of an organism

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trace fossil Scientific  

1. A fossil consisting of an imprint of or a mark left by an organism, as opposed to physical remains. Trace fossils are produced in soft sediments and include surface tracks, molded impressions left by organisms or tissues that later decayed, and subsurface burrows or tunnelings.

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Example Sentences

As happens in the world of fossilized tracks where no bones exist, paleontologists gave the trackways a specific trace fossil name, Rivavipes giganteus, meaning “the footprint of a giant bird on the river.”

From Seattle Times

Researchers also assigned to crocodile tracks a trace fossil genus and species, Anticusuchipes amnis, which roughly translates as “ancient river crocodile footprint.”

From Seattle Times

He found that a trace fossil left by a prehistoric crocodile “was repeatedly driven over,” resulting in fractures.

From Washington Post

It wasn’t until 2017, when an international conference of trace fossil experts gathered in Taipei, Taiwan, that Löwemark and colleagues were able to compare notes.

From National Geographic

“The fact that nobody had seen something similar convinced us that this is a new trace fossil species,” Löwemark says.

From National Geographic