The "trilobite” trackways in the Table Mountain Group (Ordovician) of South Africa

Abstract

A terminology for arthropod trackways is defined and the nomenclature of trace fossils is discussed briefly. Most of the trackways from the reddish sandstone Graafwater Formation are assigned to the ichnospecies Petalichnus capensis sp. nov. which includes bilaterally symmetrical walking Irails consisting of a repetition of 9-12 pairs of unifid tracks sometimes accompanied by a median drag line. These trackways are associated with hemispherical burrows Metaichna rustica gen. et sp. nov. The same animals possibly made both the trackways and the burrows, but whether or not they were trilobites is not clear.