CYLINDRICAL LIVING BURROWS IN ORDOVICIAN DALMANELLID BRACHIOPOD BEDS

Abstract

Abundant examples of cylindrical borings in the brachiopod Onniella meeki (Miller), of the sort previously thought to be the work of predatory gastropods, have been found in coquinas at Brookville, Indiana. However, it now appears that boring occurred subsequent to deposition, for in some cases more than one Onniella valve in succession in the coquina is bored. Comparison of modern borings with the Ordovician ones suggests that the borings are parts of the living burrows of an unknown polychaete annelid which was a member of the same community as Onniella.