Cambrian Arthropods

Arthropods scampering on  Late Cambrian beaches may have produced the tracks and trails observed in the Mount Simon Formation of Central Wisconsin. These ichnofossils (trace fossils) indicate that by Late Cambrian time (~510 Ma) organisms had begun to explore transitional to terrestrial  

Protichnites and Diplichnites are two ichnofossils that may owe their origin to early terrestrial arthropods. Diplichnites produced trails resembling wide dimples. Diplichnites dimples are associated with linear parallel grooves similar to that of Cruziana (trails attributed to trilobites). The linear grooves may have formed from a tail appendage dragging in the sand. Protichnites trails suggest movement by a  multi-legged animal with a "tail" (http://www.stlcc.cc.mo.us/fv/geology/text/21.html)

Arthropod Trails from in Mt. Simon Formation Sandstone

Additional Commercial Websites:

http://www.fossilmuseum.net/Fossil_Sites/Amazing_Cambrian_Quarry_in_Wisconsin/Amazing_Cambrian_Quarry_in_Wisconsin.htm

http://www.fossilmall.com/Fossil_Archive/Trace_Softbody_Fossils/Diplichnites/Diplichnites_and_unknown_arthropod_trace_fossil.htm

http://www.fossilmall.com/Cambrian_Shadows/Protichnites.htm

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