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Boring of various faunal elements in the Oligocene-Miocene Bluff Formation of Grand Cayman, British West Indies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2016

S. M. Pleydell  and
Brian Jones
S. M. Pleydell
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2E3, Canada
Brian Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2E3, Canada
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Abstract

Molds of corals, bivalves, and gastropods in the Oligocene–Miocene Bluff Formation of Grand Cayman Island contain casts of Entobia (nine ichnospecies including the new ichnospecies E. dendritica), Trypanites (three ichnospecies), Gastrochaenolites (two ichnospecies), Maeandropolydora (one ichnospecies), Talpina (one ichnospecies), and Caulostrepsis (one ichnospecies), as well as the new ichnogenus Uniglobites, indeterminate ichnogenus A, and a problematical boring. Entobia accounts for about 75 percent of the borings, while Uniglobites and Trypanites together account for 15 percent of the borings. Comparison of Uniglobites with modern borings of known affinity suggests that it was produced by adociid and/or clionid sponges while indeterminate ichnogenus A was probably formed by bivalves. The amount of boring, which ranges from 0 to 75 percent, varies from skeleton to skeleton or, in some cases, from branch to branch of the same coral colony. The branching coral Stylophora was particularly susceptible to boring, probably because of its small size and high surface area. The average boring of about 38 percent compares favorably with the amount of boring found in modern corals. Analysis of the borings suggests that sponges were responsible for most of the borings in the corals from the Bluff Formation. Comparison with bioerosion in modern reefs suggests that similar patterns of bioerosion were also occurring in Oligocene–Miocene times.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , May 1988 , pp. 348 - 367
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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