Talk:Ophiomorpha

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what family does this genus belong to?[edit]

Are these Callianassidae? Or something else?

FWIW, these are mentioned in Garcia and Miller's "Discovering Fossils" on page 168.

136.62.254.174 (talk) 02:24, 18 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

"Ichnotaxa", of which this is one, are used to name fossils of traces of animals and plants when it's not known what the organisms actually were. So often questions like yours don't have an answer. Peter coxhead (talk) 08:03, 19 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, even if we are almost sure which organism (represented in the fossil record by body fossils), an ichnofossil cannot be named after the presumed trackmaker; this is a nomenclatural rule. In addition, in many cases, we suspect that there are multiple trackmakers responsible, not necessarily closely related to each other. I don't know that this taxon can be attributed to a family. Michel Laurin (talk) 16:49, 2 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]