Skolithos

Skolithos (also Scolithus ) is the generic name of a trace fossil. It is derived from the ancient Greek words for " pile " ( σκῶλος, skolos ) and "stone" ( λίθος, lithos ) from, and goes back to Samuel Stehman Haldeman.

It is perpendicular to the stratification extending, cylindrical, always unbranched burrows with a diameter of usually 2 to 4 mm, which are believed to have been created by suspension -feeding worms. It is noteworthy that these tubes sometimes en masse, tightly packed occur in the rock. The trace species Monocraterion, Tigillites and cylindricum that were built for morphologically more or less identical fossil traces of life, are generally regarded as synonyms of Skolithos.

Skolithos occurs worldwide in marine and fluvial sandstones of different ages and is characteristic ( ie, influenced by strong wave action or currents ) for high-energy deposition areas.

A well-known locality of these fossils is in the Scottish Highlands. There Cambrian quartzites are open, in which up to 35 cm long Skolithos buildings occur very frequently and closely packed. The corresponding rock is therefore also called pipes rock (English: pipe = pipe, rock = rock, rock) called. Not rare to find in Northern Germany Cambrian boulders of sandstone, which come from Scandinavia, are full of Skolithos tubes and Skolithensandstein or Skolithos Sandstone are called.

• Skolithensandstein -Attachment

Handpiece from the Munsterlander Kiessandzug

Handpiece from the island of Poel