Tierfährten aus dem Pleistozän von Holstein: Ein Beitrag zur Ichnologie der Bändertone

Abstract. The tracks shown in this paper are found in varved clavs of Pleistocene age at Malkwitz near Malente/Holstein (N-Germany) (fig. 1-4). They appear only in summer-layers of these varved clays. The tracks of fig. 1 (1-4), (8), (9) will be made by animals (e. g. insects or larvae), but those of fig. 1 (5-7) are probablv produced inorganically (twigs etc.. driven through shallow water). In comparison with these marks fig. 5 shows tracks, which are described by other authors from different places in Central-Europe. It is verv difficult to find the organisme responsible for these marks, because nobody has found anv fossil hitherto, which could have made the marks when it lived in these little perlglaclal lakes. On the other hand these lakes are situated in a climatic zone giving an environment with extreme conditions. It is possible that the originators of these tracks have not lived permanently in the lakes. This would be a form of life such as that of insect larvae. The form and construction of these marks is dependent on the animal, its anatomy, its way of life etc., but also on the region in which it lives. The grade of compaction, the water content of the sediment and other physical and chemical conditions are also very important.