Gnathichnus stellarum ichnosp. nov., trace de broutage d’un echinide du Campanien des Charentes (France)

The marginal ossicles of asteroids from the Campanian Chalk of Talmont (Charente-Maritime, France) bear numerous traces of grazing or biting. The study of the functional mechanics of the Aristotle's lantern of living echinoids and the examination of the grazing traces made by living echinoids on calcareous alga allow these trace fossils to be interpreted as grazing traces produced by an echinoid. The new ichnospecies is named Gnathichnus stellarum.