''Merostomichnites'' is an

ichnofossil A trace fossil, also called an ichnofossil (; ), is a fossil record of biological activity by lifeforms, but not the preserved remains of the organism itself. Trace fossils contrast with body fossils, which are the fossilized remains of part ...

genus, interpreted as a

eurypterid Eurypterids, often informally called sea scorpions, are a group of extinct marine arthropods that form the Order (biology), order Eurypterida. The earliest known eurypterids date to the Darriwilian stage of the Ordovician period, 467.3 Myr, mil ...

trace. Traces produced by this large eurypterid were described from the

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

and

Lower Ordovician The Early Ordovician is the first epoch of the Ordovician period, corresponding to the Lower Ordovician series of the Ordovician system. It began after the Age 10 of the Furongian epoch of the Cambrian and lasted from to million years ago, unt ...

, and has been found in Portugal and Norway. The eurypterid trail was found by Hanken and Dr. J. Miller in 1971. The tracks found in Norway were likely made by '' Mixopterus kiaeri''.Hanken, N.-M. & Størmer, L. (1975):
The trail of a large Silurian eurypterid
. ''Fossils and Strata'', No. 4, pp. 255-270, Pl. 1 -3.

References

Eurypterida Fossil trackways {{trace-fossil-stub

See also

References