Editing Fossil (section)

=== Trace ===
{{Main|Trace fossil}}

Trace fossils are fossil records of biological activity by lifeforms but not the preserved remains of the organism itself. They consist mainly of tracks and burrows, but also include [[coprolite]]s (fossil [[feces]]) and marks left by feeding.<ref name="UCMPWhatIsPaleo">{{cite web | url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/faq.php#paleo | access-date=17 September 2008 | title=What is paleontology? | publisher=University of California Museum of Paleontology | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916013642/http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/faq.php#paleo | archive-date=16 September 2008 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="FedonkinGehlingEtAl2007RiseOfAnimals" /> Trace fossils are particularly significant because they represent a data source that is not limited to animals with easily fossilized hard parts, and they reflect animal behaviours. Many traces date from significantly earlier than the body fossils of animals that are thought to have been capable of making them.<ref name="Seilacher1994">e.g. {{Cite journal
| author = Seilacher, A. | year = 1994 | title = How valid is Cruziana Stratigraphy?
| journal = International Journal of Earth Sciences | volume = 83 | issue = 4 | pages = 752–758
| doi=10.1007/BF00251073 | bibcode=1994GeoRu..83..752S| s2cid = 129504434 }}</ref> Whilst exact assignment of trace fossils to their makers is generally impossible, traces may for example provide the earliest physical evidence of the appearance of moderately complex animals (comparable to [[earthworm]]s).<ref name="FedonkinGehlingEtAl2007RiseOfAnimals">{{Cite book |author1=Fedonkin, M.A. |author2=Gehling, J.G. |author3=Grey, K. |author4=Narbonne, G.M. |author5=Vickers-Rich, P. |title=The Rise of Animals: Evolution and Diversification of the Kingdom Animalia |publisher=JHU Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8018-8679-9 |pages=213–216 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OFKG6SmPNuUC&pg=PA213 |access-date=14 November 2008 |archive-date=17 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317062706/https://books.google.com/books?id=OFKG6SmPNuUC&pg=PA213 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour (in this case, diet) rather than morphology. They were first described by [[William Buckland]] in 1829. Prior to this they were known as "fossil [[conifer cone#Pinaceae cones|fir cones]]" and "[[bezoar]] stones." They serve a valuable purpose in paleontology because they provide direct evidence of the predation and diet of extinct organisms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=coprolites|title=coprolites |publisher=[[Dictionary.com]] |access-date=29 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217091807/http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=coprolites|archive-date=17 December 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> Coprolites may range in size from a few millimetres to over 60 centimetres.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="155px">
File:CambrianRusophycus.jpg|[[Cambrian]] [[trace fossil]]s including ''[[Rusophycus]]'', made by a [[trilobite]]
File:Coprolite.jpg|A coprolite of a carnivorous dinosaur found in southwestern [[Saskatchewan]]
File:Climactichnites wilsoni, densely packed.jpg|Densely packed, subaerial or nearshore trackways (''[[Climactichnites]] wilsoni'') made by a putative, slug-like [[mollusk]] on a Cambrian tidal flat
</gallery>