Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
| Online Publication Date: 05 Nov 2007
Edward Hitchcock, Fucoides, and the Ichnogenus Scoyenia
Edward Hitchcock, Fucoides, and the Ichnogenus Scoyenia
Page Range: 13 – 20
Historical research conducted on the scientific contributions of Edward Hitchcock (1793-1864) has documented the first complete published descriptions and illustrations of abundant Early Mesozoic nonmarine burrows from the Deerfield Basin, Massachusetts [Newark Supergroup] which of late have been called Scoyenia White 1929. Although Hitchcock believed that he was describing fossilized algae or seaweeds (fucoids), his observations revealed nearly all the diagnostic characteristics of the ichnogenus; in particular, the meniscate nature of its backfilling. Today, most of his original specimens have been relocated and examined. Probable reasons for the subsequent obscurity of his findings are explored, along with rediscoveries of the same trace fossil by later generations of paleontologists.
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