Trace fossil classification: Difference between revisions

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==Taxonomic classification== <!--intro links here-->

The '''taxonomic classification of trace fossils''' parallels the taxonomic classification of [[organism]]s under the [[International Code of Zoological Nomenclature]]. In [[trace fossil]] nomenclature a [[Latin]] [[binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] is used, just as in [[animal]] and [[plant]] [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]], with a [[genus]] and [[specific name (zoology)|specific epithet]]. WhenHowever, talkingthe aboutbinomial tracenames fossilsare thenot genus islinked calledto an ''ichnogenus''organism, andbut therather speciesjust isa antrace ''ichnospecies'',fossil. theThis ''ichno-''is prefixdue coming fromto the [[Greekrarity language|Greek]]of ''ιχνος''association (transliteratedbetween ''ikhnos''), meaninga "trace". The name is similarly italicized,fossil and ina fullspecific referenceorganism theor authorgroup plusof theorganisms. yearWhen ofreferring publicationtrace shouldfossils, bethe cited.terms "Ichnogenus"''ichnogenus'' and "''ichnospecies"'' areparralel commonly abbreviated as "igen."[[genus]] and "isp.",[[species]] respectively.

{{see also|Ichnotaxa}}

The '''taxonomic classification of trace fossils''' parallels the taxonomic classification of [[organism]]s under the [[International Code of Zoological Nomenclature]]. In [[trace fossil]] nomenclature a [[Latin]] [[binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] is used, just as in [[animal]] and [[plant]] [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]], with a [[genus]] and [[specific name (zoology)|specific epithet]]. When talking about trace fossils the genus is called an ''ichnogenus'', and the species is an ''ichnospecies'', the ''ichno-'' prefix coming from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''ιχνος'' (transliterated ''ikhnos''), meaning "trace". The name is similarly italicized, and in full reference the author plus the year of publication should be cited. "Ichnogenus" and "ichnospecies" are commonly abbreviated as "igen." and "isp.", respectively.

Most researchers classify trace fossils only as far as the ichnogenus rank, based upon trace fossils that resemble each other in morphology but have subtle differences. Some authors have constructed detailed hierarchies up to ''ichnosuperclass'', recognizing such fine detail as to identify ''ichnosuperorder'' and ''ichnoinfraclass'' (e.g. [http://www.paleofile.com/Demo/Localities/Africademo/Algeria.htm]), but such attempts are controversial.