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Sex
on the Sea Shore
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Trace
Maker
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Horseshoe
crab traces |
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Trace
Name
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Kouphichnium
sp.
KO-PICK-NEE-UM |
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Age
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Carboniferous
Period
(About 315 million years old) |
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Where
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Joggins,
Nova Scotia |
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Cast
or Mold
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Mold |
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Collector
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Don
Reid, President, Joggins Fossil Centre |
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These
traces are believed to have been made by prehistoric horseshoe
crabs that were frolicking on the shores of an ancient sea.
Two individual traces join together to make one trace and this
has been interpreted as mating activity. Talk about getting
caught in the act! Modern-day horseshoe crabs still perform
the same mating ritual on beaches every year.
Note: there are several small curving traces on this specimen
as well. These traces were made by tiny, worm-like critters
that were swimming just above the sand or burrowing slightly
into the sand. There are also ripple marks - the rounded bumpy
features. Ripple marks are made by water flowing over sand and
silt. These were made by ocean waves over beach sand.
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