Feoichnus Bellosi et al., 2001
DESCRIPTION: Dish-, cup-, or bowl-shaped, concave, hemispherical structure. The depth of the concave depression is variable. External surface is relatively smooth when well-preserved; rough to textured when weathered. The fill, when present, is passive.
BEHAVIOR(S): Calichnia, reproduction.
ENVIRONMENTAL SETTINGS: A wide variety of continental terrestrial environments, found in well-drained soils in the vadose (unsaturated) zone.
POSSIBLE TRACEMAKERS: Dung beetle adults; constructed for eggs and later modifed by the larvae
GEOLOGIC RANGE: Jurassic-recent
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES: Emended by Bellosi, 2004. Hasiotis, 2006
REMARKS: 3D image of
Feoichnus can be seen
here. Often found in
Coprinaesphera samples. Interpreted by Krause et al., 2008 as feeding traces by cicadas, however, research by Smith and Hasiotis (2008) on cicadas show packages of backfilled meniscae burrows and vertical exit burrows, but no cup structures. References on dung beetle nest structures similar traces to
Feoichnus have been created by dung beetle larvae feeding on dung sausages.
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