#Osspecus
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#Osspecus
#EuniceFoote
#EuniceNewtonFoote
July 18, 2025 at 10:32 AM
marcehjones.bsky.social
Bone-eating worm burrows show significant variation in shape: #Osspecus #eunicefooteae has a relatively wide aperture, short aperture neck, and long thin branches of irregular length that extend in a 180 degree arc.

youtu.be/J01KjWNGWAg
Digital model of the worm boring Osspecus eunicefooteae
YouTube video by Marc Jones
youtu.be
July 17, 2025 at 10:25 PM
marcehjones.bsky.social
Happy Birthday #EuniceNewtonFoote! 🎂
She would be 206 years old today!

We recently named the trace fossil #Osspecuseunicefooteae after her in this study led by @plesiosarahs.bsky.social on Cretaceous bone-eating worms:
- journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
- journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

🦴🪱
Images of the trace fossil Osspecus eunicefooteae. The inset shows a post mortem burrow in the bone of an fossilised ichthyosaur (from the Cretaceous of the UK) as seen in a slice from a micro X-ray CT scan. The main panel shows a 3D digital model of the burrow made in specialist software (Avizo) by tracing the burrow slice by slice. The burrow is about 2.7 mm across.
July 17, 2025 at 4:22 PM