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Eurypterid trackways from Early Devonian tidal facies of Alken an der Mosel (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, Germany)

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Abstract

Arthropod trackways from the Early Devonian of Alken an der Mosel are described, assigned to the ichnospecies Palmichnium pottsae and attributed to medium-sized eurypterids known from the assemblage. Ichnological and sedimentological evidence suggests that several similarly sized animals simultaneously crawled towards, or away from, the shoreline traversing the lower intertidal zone, where conditions for trackway preservation were most favourable. Comparison with modern horseshoe crabs suggests that this synchronized behaviour may have been part of the reproductive cycle of eurypterids, supporting the previously formulated ‘mass-moult-mate’ hypothesis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. René Hoffmann (Bochum) for providing photographs of the P. culmicum-type specimens, Dr. Angela Ehling (BGR Berlin) and Prof. P. Martin Sander (Bonn) for access to material in their care and Thomas Schindler (Spabrücken), Dr. Michael Wuttke (Mainz) and Olaf Vogel (Frankfurt) for useful discussions. We are grateful to Dr. Markus Bertling (Münster) and Dr. Max Wisshak (Erlangen) for their constructive reviews of this paper.

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  1. Direktion Landesarchäologie, Referat Erdgeschichte, Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz, Große Langgasse 29, 55116, Mainz, Germany

    Markus Poschmann

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen’s Road, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK

    Simon J. Braddy

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Correspondence to Markus Poschmann.

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Poschmann, M., Braddy, S.J. Eurypterid trackways from Early Devonian tidal facies of Alken an der Mosel (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, Germany). Palaeobio Palaeoenv 90, 111–124 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-010-0024-2

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