Volledige titel:
Subterranean ant nests: trace fossils past and future?
Auteur(s):
Walter R. Tschinkel
Gepubliceerd in:
Elsevier
Jaar van publicatie:
Plaats hier het publicatiejaar
Abstract:
Many species of ants excavate complex, species-typical nests in soil. The basic structural units of many nests are
descending tunnels connecting flattened, generally horizontal chambers of oval to lobed outline. The species-typical
structure of many nests results from variation in the size, shape, number and arrangement of these basic elements.
Nest architecture can be rendered by filling subterranean nests with a thin slurry of orthodontal plaster, then
excavating and reconstructing the hardened cast. Photographs of such nest casts of nine species of ants from northern
Florida show the range and type of variation of architecture. Preservation conditions under which ant nests could
form complex trace fossils are discussed, and reports of such traces reviewed. The images presented in this paper will
help to alert trace fossil specialists to the potential range of appearance of such nest fossils.
Webadres:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http:/ ... 4o7ZZSCV2g
Subterranean ant nests: trace fossils past and future?
Auteur(s):
Walter R. Tschinkel
Gepubliceerd in:
Elsevier
Jaar van publicatie:
Plaats hier het publicatiejaar
Abstract:
Many species of ants excavate complex, species-typical nests in soil. The basic structural units of many nests are
descending tunnels connecting flattened, generally horizontal chambers of oval to lobed outline. The species-typical
structure of many nests results from variation in the size, shape, number and arrangement of these basic elements.
Nest architecture can be rendered by filling subterranean nests with a thin slurry of orthodontal plaster, then
excavating and reconstructing the hardened cast. Photographs of such nest casts of nine species of ants from northern
Florida show the range and type of variation of architecture. Preservation conditions under which ant nests could
form complex trace fossils are discussed, and reports of such traces reviewed. The images presented in this paper will
help to alert trace fossil specialists to the potential range of appearance of such nest fossils.
Webadres:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http:/ ... 4o7ZZSCV2g