Glossary · Preservation

Trace fossil (ichnofossil)

Evidence of an organism's activity rather than its body: tracks, trails, burrows, borings, feeding traces.

Evidence of an organism's activity rather than its body: tracks, trails, burrows, borings, feeding traces. Trace fossils are named as ichnotaxa (Skolithos, Cruziana) independent of their makers.

Sources

Cite this article

Stratum Strata. "Trace fossil (ichnofossil)" (Glossary). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-16. https://stratum.black/strata/glossary/trace-fossil. Accessed 2026-09-21.

@misc{stratum-trace-fossil,
  title        = {Trace fossil (ichnofossil)},
  author       = {{Stratum Strata}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/glossary/trace-fossil}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Glossary article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-16; sources: stratum. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
}

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Sources for this article: Stratum editorial (Stratum editorial). As of 2026-09-16; Strata pack 2026.09. Written by Stratum in our own words; the works cited are where the science lives, and none of their text is reproduced here.

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Stratum is the inventory, provenance and certificate system for fossil, mineral and shell collections. Strata is its open reference: every fact cites its source, and the credits page lists each one with its licence.