{"title":"Neoichnological study of two species of burrowing darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) from larval to adult stages","authors":"Hayden A. Thacker, Daniel I. Hembree","doi":"10.1080/10420940.2021.1941001","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Beetles (Coleoptera) are a critical component of terrestrial ecosystems filling numerous ecological roles. Soil-dwelling beetles play an important role in pedogenesis through the production of biogenic structures throughout their life cycle. Given their life habits, beetle trace fossils should be abundant in the fossil record and a number of ichnotaxa have been attributed to beetles, yet there is still much to learn about their trace-making techniques and the variety of morphologies of traces they can produce throughout their life cycle. The Tenebrionidae (darkling beetles) is a common, globally distributed group that includes many soil-dwelling species from a variety of environments. The purpose of this project was to gain a better understanding of biogenic structures produced during each life stage of two species of burrowing darkling beetles, Zophobas morio F. and Tenebrio molitor L. Single to multiple specimens of each species were placed in variably sized enclosures filled with massive and layered sediment with and without layers of food. Biogenic structures produced by the two species were similar, but distinct between each life stage and associated with different behaviors. Observed biogenic structures are comparable to Palaeophycus, Planolites, Fictovichnus, Rebuffoichnus, Pallichnus, Taenidium, Skolithos, and Conichnus depending on the life stage. Neoichnological studies such as this can aid in the understanding of biogenic structures in the fossil record. Being able to effectively link continental traces to trace makers will ultimately improve our understanding of the composition of ancient terrestrial ecosystems.","PeriodicalId":51057,"journal":{"name":"Ichnos-An International Journal for Plant and Animal Traces","volume":"61 1","pages":"290 - 308"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8000,"publicationDate":"2021-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ichnos-An International Journal for Plant and Animal Traces","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10420940.2021.1941001","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"PALEONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
ABSTRACT Beetles (Coleoptera) are a critical component of terrestrial ecosystems filling numerous ecological roles. Soil-dwelling beetles play an important role in pedogenesis through the production of biogenic structures throughout their life cycle. Given their life habits, beetle trace fossils should be abundant in the fossil record and a number of ichnotaxa have been attributed to beetles, yet there is still much to learn about their trace-making techniques and the variety of morphologies of traces they can produce throughout their life cycle. The Tenebrionidae (darkling beetles) is a common, globally distributed group that includes many soil-dwelling species from a variety of environments. The purpose of this project was to gain a better understanding of biogenic structures produced during each life stage of two species of burrowing darkling beetles, Zophobas morio F. and Tenebrio molitor L. Single to multiple specimens of each species were placed in variably sized enclosures filled with massive and layered sediment with and without layers of food. Biogenic structures produced by the two species were similar, but distinct between each life stage and associated with different behaviors. Observed biogenic structures are comparable to Palaeophycus, Planolites, Fictovichnus, Rebuffoichnus, Pallichnus, Taenidium, Skolithos, and Conichnus depending on the life stage. Neoichnological studies such as this can aid in the understanding of biogenic structures in the fossil record. Being able to effectively link continental traces to trace makers will ultimately improve our understanding of the composition of ancient terrestrial ecosystems.
期刊介绍:
The foremost aim of Ichnos is to promote excellence in ichnologic research. Primary emphases center upon the ethologic and ecologic significance of tracemaking organisms; organism-substrate interrelationships; and the role of biogenic processes in environmental reconstruction, sediment dynamics, sequence or event stratigraphy, biogeochemistry, and sedimentary diagenesis. Each contribution rests upon a firm taxonomic foundation, although papers dealing solely with systematics and nomenclature may have less priority than those dealing with conceptual and interpretive aspects of ichnology. Contributions from biologists and geologists are equally welcome.
The format for Ichnos is designed to accommodate several types of manuscripts, including Research Articles (comprehensive articles dealing with original, fundamental research in ichnology), and Short Communications (short, succinct papers treating certain aspects of the history of ichnology, book reviews, news and notes, or invited comments dealing with current or contentious issues). The large page size and two-column format lend flexibility to the design of tables and illustrations. Thorough but timely reviews and rapid publication of manuscripts are integral parts of the process.