Skolithos ranges in age from early Cambrian [2] to the present [3][4] and is found throughout the world. They occur in sediments and sedimentary rocks, primarily sands and sandstones. They are typically marine in origin, [5] and are commonly associated with high-energy environments close to the shoreline. [2]

Oct 1, 2018 · The trace fossil Skolithos, with its simple, vertical to very slightly inclined, tubular form, is widely recognized and globally distributed in early Cambrian to Holocene strata, representing deep-sea to continental paleoenvironments.

Jan 16, 2021 · The famous "pipe rock" of northwest Scotland is a Cambrian sandstone, in which the "pipes" are closely spaced Skolithos burrows. Another well known "pipe rock" is the Ordovician to Silurian Tumblagooda Sandstone of Kalbarri National Park in Western Australia, a picture of which is shown below.

Dec 1, 2010 · The term pipe rock was coined by Peach & Horne (1884) in reference to dense populations of Skolithos in the Lower Cambrian Eriboll Formation of Scotland, specifically in the Pipe Rock Member.

Skolithos are especially common in Cambrian sedimentary rocks, even after correcting for relative geologic map area and period durations (Figure 1). During the Early Cambrian an abrupt increase in the diversity of bioturbators as well as the degree and depth of bioturbation occurred in conjunction with the rapid radiation of metazoans ...

Dec 15, 2024 · Skolithos piperock is prevalent in Cambrian shallow marine deposits but diminishes throughout the Paleozoic. This study reports an interval with Skolithos piperock from the upper Furnas Formation (Lower Devonian), offering insights into the paleoenvironmental interpretation of nearshore sandstones.

Detailed descriptions are given of the trace fossils Skolithos and Monocraterion in the Lower Cambrian Pipe Rock, which have hitherto been referred to as ‘ordinary pipes’ and ‘trumpet pipes’ respectively.

The type species, Skolithos linearis, was first described in 1840 by Samuel S. Haldeman, based on his observations of early Cambrian quartzite at Chickies Rock, a well-known landmark on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, in Pennsylvania.

Jul 12, 2023 · Skolithos pipe rock occurs predominantly in the early Paleozoic, most notably in the early Cambrian (Droser 1991), where it represents a significant early step in the Cambrian Substrate Revolution noted above.

Discussion: Skolithos is generally interpreted as the domichnion of a suspension-feeding worm or phoronid (summarized in Fürsich 1974b). However, the possibility that certain Skolithos represent entrance shafts to more complicated burrows cannot be excluded (BUCKMAN 1996).