A conundrum from the Llandovery (Lower Silurian) of Devil's Dingle, Shropshire

摘要

A root-like structure from the LIandovery (Telychian) of Devil's Dingle, Shropshire, may be an invertebrate attachment structure or a trace fossil close to Chondrites isp. von Sternberg, although the possibility that it is a Recent plant root trace is also considered. The specimen is preserved as an external mould in a medium-grained sandstone bed, oriented perpendicular to bedding on a joint surface. The structure has a central shaft that is inflated at branching points; lateral branches are directed sub-horizontally at shallower depths and at progressively greater angles to the horizontal in deeper parts of the structure. Multiple branches are regularly distributed down the shaft. With insufficient definitive features to determine whether it is a body or, more probably, a trace fossil, the specimen is named, conservatively, as Chondrites? sp., although a Recent botanical origin is not discounted.