Zoophycos Massalongo, 1855

DESCRIPTION: Spreite structures consisting of numerous J- or U-shaped protrusive burrows of variable length and width. The spreiten form laminae bordered by a marginal tunnel, spirally coiled around a central axis, constructed upward or downward, furrowed by numerous lamellae (primary and secondary). Whorls or lobes in cross section show laminae as pseudobackfill structures, which are actually spreiten, formed during the lateral displacement of the marginal or causitive tunnel (after Olivero, 2007).

BEHAVIOR(S): Fodinichina; feeding burrows of deposit feeders.

ENVIRONMENTAL SETTINGS: Shallow to deep marine

POSSIBLE TRACEMAKERS: Annelid worms, sipunculids, arthropods.

GEOLOGIC RANGE: Cambrian-recent

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES: Książkiewicz 1977; Uchman, 1995, 1999; Olivero, 2007; Oligmueller and Hasiotis 2024.

REMARKS: Found in the shallow-water deposits during the early and late Paleozoic; found mostly in deep-water deposits after the Paleozoic.