First Record of Ichnogenus Furculosus from Western India: Clues to Early Cambrian Behavioral Evolution

This paper documents the occurrence of the trace fossil Furculosus from the Nagaur Sandstone of the Marwar Supergroup, exposed near Dulmera village, Bikaner District, Western India for the first time. The ichnofossils occur within fine- to medium-grained ferruginous sandstone beds displaying well-developed ripple lamination and moderate bioturbation. The specimens of Ichnogenus Furculosus are characterized by gently curved, bifurcating, bilobate burrows commonly considered as passive burrow consistent with the diagnosis of Furculosus carpathicus previously known from the Lower Cambrian of Europe. The occurrence of Ichnogenus Furculosus in the Nagaur Sandstone expands its palaeogeographic range into the Indian subcontinent and provides new insights into the behavioral and ecological strategies of early benthic infauna inhabiting shallow-marine substrates during the onset of the Cambrian Substrate Revolution (CSR). The associated ichnoassemblage, comprising Furculosus, Planolites, Palaeophycus, and Diplocraterion, represents a Cruziana Ichnofacies indicative of a low- to moderate-energy, well-oxygenated foreshore environment conducive to deposit-feeding activity.