what are trace fossils

Trace fossils, also known as ichnofossils, are geological records of the activities and behaviors of past life. They are different from body fossils, which preserve the actual remains of a body such as shells or bones. Trace fossils may consist of impressions made on or in the substrate by an organism, such as burrows, borings, footprints, feeding marks, and root cavities. Trace fossils are important paleoecological and paleoenvironmental indicators because they are preserved in situ, or in the life position of the organism that made them. Identical fossils can be created by a range of different organisms, so trace fossils can only reliably inform us of two things: the consistency of the sediment at the time of its deposition and the energy level of the depositional environment. Trace fossils provide us with indirect evidence of life in the past, such as the footprints, tracks, burrows, borings, and feces left behind by animals, rather than the preserved remains of the body of the actual animal itself. Trace fossils are formed by organisms performing the functions of their everyday life, such as walking, crawling, burrowing, boring, or feeding.