Psammichnites from the Pennsylvanian Rod El-Hamal Formation of Egypt: revisiting paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic patterns of distribution of late Paleozoic ichnospecies

New research has just been published in Ichnos by authors Ahmed A. El-Refaiy, Luis Buatois, Magdy M. El Hedeny, Ahmed M. El-Sabbagh, Ahmed N. El-Barkooky and Ahmed S. Mansour on Psammichnites in the Pennsylvanian Rod El-Hamal Formation of Egypt.

The researchers found high density occurrences of three different ichnospecies of Psammichnites preserved in the rippled troughs of sandstones in off-shore transition settings. Global compilation of Psammichnites show its presence in marginal and fully-marine deposits, showing its tolerance to brackish to normal marine salinity conditions. Psammichnites appears to be a cosmopolitan ichnogenus showing a broad latitudinal distribution during the late Paleozoic, having been particularly widespread during the Pennsylvanian.

Figure 3. Psammichnites ichnospecies from the Pennsylvanian Rod El-Hamal Formation, Wadi Araba, Eastern Desert of Egypt. Scale bars are 2.5 cm. (A–D) Psammichnites plummeri (Fenton & Fenton,1937). (E–H) Psammichnites grumula (Romano & Meléndez, 1979). From El-Refaiy et al. (2026).

Learn more about this research published in Ichnos here.

Written by Zane Gabriel Goodell