256 



VERMES 



SUB-KINGDOM IV 



obscure remains have been described from the older Palaeozoic formations. 

 The burrows have the form of straight or tortuous tunnels, and are sometimes 

 hollow, but more commonly have been filled up by the matrix of the rock. 



Various names have been applied 

 to them,* such as Scolithus, Areni- 

 cola, Histioderma, Planolites, Diplo- 

 craterihi, Spirocolex, Scolecoderma, 

 etc., but they are obviously in- 

 capable of precise determination. 

 Similarly, the serpentine or 

 vermiform impressions known 

 as Nereites, consisting usually of 

 a number of windings, and often 

 of profuse occurrence in various 

 Palaeozoic formations, were 

 until quite recently regarded as 

 worm-tubes, or markings made 

 by Fucoids. These also have 

 received numerous appellations, 

 such as Nereites (Fig. 409), 

 Nemertites, Myrianites, Nemapodia, 

 Crossopodia (Fig. 410), Phyllodo- 



Naites, etc. Nathorst, however, has brought forward experimental 

 evidence to demonstrate that the majority of these markings have been pro- 

 duced by the movements of Crustaceans, Annelides, and Gastropods. A 

 like origin may be reasonably ascribed to the extraordinarily abundant and 

 variable vermiform structures known as "Hieroglyphics," which occur in the^ 

 Flysch, Carpathian Sandstone, and in the marine facies of the Cretaceous and 

 Jurassic formations. 



FIG. 410. 



Crossopodia (Crossochorda) scotica, 

 Bagnoles, Normandy. 



M'Coy. Ordovician 



