New ichnospecies of scratching traces from phosphatic nodules (Cenomanian, England)

Surfaces of phosphorite nodules and pebbles from the “Cambridge Green Sand” (Cenomanian, South England) yielded several discernible types of scratches. These originated before the burial of nodules/pebbles as evidenced by fossil epibiotic oysters cemented to cover the scratches. The individual forms of scratches differ in size and shape; therefore, the set of “scratching instruments” also had to be different. The scratches described differ from scratches generated by glacial processes, namely by the regularity of length and intervals, parallel orientation, existence of recurrent forms and placement along the nodule edges. We interpret the scratches as trace fossils of the ichnogenus Machichnus. Three new species, namely M. normani, M. harlandi and M. jeansi, are erected for them herein. The series of scratches originated probably by teeth on a couple of jaws; the makers possibly scraped bacterial or algal film off the surface of nodules that were covered with the phosphate gel. Both homodont and heterodont animals (probably fish) were involved