Ancient Tunnel - mystery creatures leave their tunnels
Ancient Tunnel - mystery creatures leave their tunnels
- an ancient lugworm tells its story
Let the rocks tell their story
An example of a living creature that make tunnels along shallow shorelines... lugworms
Some typical shapes of freshwater (non-marine) and saltwater (marine) tunnels and traces
My Story
I am from a rock 110 million year old sandstone from Richmond, Queensland,Australia.
Iwas formed in an ancient shallow sea that covered the central part of Australia.
Ripple marks and the rock type show this area was a shoreline.
As the tide changes the shoreline comes in and out of the water so creatures dig tunnels...
- to retreat into when the shore dries out
- for protection
- to assist in getting food
From looking a modern shorelines and comparing you can see I was a worm-like creature because the tunnel shape is similar to tunnels made by modern worm-like creatures.
The other trace fossil on the left is probably a crab track. It looks a lot like modern crab tracks (click the link if you want to find out more)
Often we do not know what the creature looked like but can make some guesses based on the tunnels of creatures still living in shallow shoreline environments.
If the trace fossil shape does not match that of a living creature then we make a guess - no more - as to what it might have looked like.
We have no way to confirm this guess!
Some people claim that we know a lot about the ancient past but if you look about you most things you see are made of soft body parts and are not located in a place where they might be buried and become a fossil.
What are your chances, where you are sitting now, of becoming a fossil? - Lets face it chances are pretty slim!
Most creatures are unlikely to ever become fossils maybe 90% of ancient life. We don't really know!
Most soft bodied creatures in particular, leave no fossil record, we don't know anything about them and never will.
Our "fossil record" is based on creatures that just happened to live in places where it was easier to become a fossil for example...
- by being buried in a just the right kind of sediment,
- being covered in a volcanic ash fall,
- getting caught and buried in a flood or landslide
- falling into a preserving chemical like a tarpit, alkaline lake, anaerobic swamp
- getting stuck in tree sap
- being frozen or desicated
While the sea is long gone there are some very ancient rivers such as the Finke River in the Northern Territory that show clear evidence that they once flowed into this ancient salty sea.
Remarkably the Finke River contains fresh water sharks and skates, creatures that adapted from salt to fresh water as the sea dried up.
We have some amazing things in Australia!
The Finke River is one of the oldest rivers in the world and flows into a sea that no longer exists. These living fossils deserve our protection.
An example of a living creature that make tunnels along shallow shorelines... lugworms
modern lugworm
basic worm tunnel design
Some typical shapes of freshwater (non-marine) and saltwater (marine) tunnels and traces
Freshwater (non-marine ) traces and tunnels
Saltwater (marine) traces and tunnels
You can find out more about the expedition that found this fossil -- EXPEDITIONS and TRACE FOSSILS and AMBER