ichnospecies

== English == === Etymology === From ichno- (“trace”) +‎ species, suggesting an analogy with the species level of the taxonomy of organisms. === Noun === ichnospecies (plural ichnospecies) (paleontology) A level of taxonomical classification of trace fossils. 2017 March 22, Elsa Panciroli, The Guardian, Walking in the footsteps of giants and gerbils: what fossil prints can tell us: A recent paper by a team from Brazil described a new ichnospecies of these tracks: Brasilichnium saltatorium. ==== Usage notes ==== Generally, only two levels of taxonomic classification of trace fossils are used: ichnogenus and ichnospecies. Higher levels have been used by some authors, but their usefulness is disputed. The classification ichnospecies plays no part in the taxonomy of organisms. The connection is one of analogy: ichnospecies is to ichnogenus as species is to genus. Nevertheless, given a trace fossil of an ichnospecies known to be produced by only a limited number of organism species, it may be possible to deduce which species produced it. More generally, the description of an ichnospecies reveals aspects of the behaviour of the species that produced it. ==== Related terms ==== ichnofamily ichnogenus ichnology ichnotaxon ichnotaxonomy ==== Translations ====