Asteriacites is the name given to five-rayed
trace fossils found in marine sedimentary rocks. They record the burrows of
ophiuroid and
asteroid sea stars on the sea floor. Asteriacites are found in European and American rocks, from the
Ordovician period onwards, and are especially numerous in the Triassic and
Jurassic systems.[2][3][4]
Dense assemblages of Asteriacites ('Asteriacites beds') are considered proxies for marine settings, low bioturbation intensity, shallow tiering, high sedimentation rate and/or event-bed deposition, significant levels of hydrodynamic energy, and low predation pressure.[4]
Gallery
Asteriacites from the Devonian of northeastern Ohio; this trace was made by an asteroid echinoderm
Bedding plane view of Asteriacites from the Snapper Point Formation (
Permian), New South Wales
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Asteriacites.
^Mángano, M.G.; Buatois, L.A.; West, R.R.; Maples, C.G. (1999). "The origin and paleoecologic significance of the trace fossil Asteriacites in the Pennsylvanian of Kansas and Missouri". Lethaia. 32 (1): 17–30.
Bibcode:
1999Letha..32...17M.
doi:
10.1111/j.1502-3931.1999.tb00577.x.
^
abBaucon, A., Neto de Carvalho, C. 2016. Stars of the aftermath: Asteriacites beds from the Lower Triassic of the Carnic Alps (Werfen Formation, Sauris di Sopra), Italy. Palaios 31. Abstract available at
http://www.tracemaker.com