A new ichnogenus for Teredolites longissimus Kelly and Bromley

Ichnotaxobases that provide internally consistent classification schemes for trace fossils such as burrows and borings include general form, branching, orientation, ornamentation, internal structure and fill, and boundaries. Substrate is a poor ichnotaxobase but it has been widely used for some ichnogenera, most notably the clavate (club-shaped) borings commonly produced by bivalves. The ichnogenus Teredolites Leymerie includes only two ichnospecies, both limited to xylic (woody) substrates; Teredolites clavatus Leymerie, the type species; and Teredolites longissimus Kelly and Bromley. Teredolites clavatus are club-shaped and short, whereas T. longissimus are long and straight to sinuous to worm-like. Although both are (commonly) bivalve borings in wood substrates, they are morphologically highly dissimilar. Teredolites longissimus Kelly and Bromley is made the type ichnospecies of Apectoichnus igen. nov. herein. Apectoichnus includes elongate borings, commonly circular in section, smooth-sided, sinuous to contorted and intertwined, and with or without a calcareous lining; they are found in wood.