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 • Sep. 15, 2023

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 • Sep. 15, 2023

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

From Washington Post • Apr. 5, 2022

Eubrontes trace fossil from Utah, showing the geopetal direction is into the image.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017