Carboniferous Arthropod Ichnofossil from Tasmania

Description: This trackway looks like some ascribed to trilobites, but was actually made by an arthropod of the family Anaspididae. The extant members of this family are endemic to Tasmania, and have been termed “living fossils”. They are a small (10 mm) freshwater arthropod comprised of 5 species in 3 genera. Like these living members, the trackways have only been found in Tasmania. The detail is quite good, with the specimen affording a most unique opportunity to own a moment in time frozen for nearly 300 million years. Note the smaller secondary trackway the proceeds from the lower left corner, intersecting the major one near the left center of the full piece photograph.