<i>Cubiculum ornatus</i> (Roberts et al., 2007) Trace-fossils from Bone-bed in India

ABSTRACT This paper discovered the excellent and ideal-preservations of Cubiculum ornatus boring traces in Bone-bed of Fatehgarh Formation of the Barmer Basin, western Rajasthan, India. These boring traces are ellipsoidal, straight to slightly curved or arcuate ovoid-shaped hollow chambers with steep margins; occurred as concave reliefs on the surfaces of reddish-brown medium- to finegrained sandstone containing high bone-fragments of the Bariyara Section. This section is exposed near Bariyara village in the Jaisalmer district. More than 200 specimens of Cubiculum ornatus are found here in lengths ranging from 15 to 24 mm, and their width ranges from 04 to 06 mm. These Cubiculum ornatus boring traces are most likely the reproduction or pupation chambers of carrion insects like dermestid, silphid, and histerid beetles; termites; and tineid moths, which possess a robust mouth-part. Based on prior sedimentological investigation, microvertebrate faunal records, trace-fossils from the same Bariyara Section and presently recorded Cubiculum ornatus boring traces (generally shows subaerial conditions of continental settings), this study suggests a near-coastal to shoreface environments of marginal-marine depositional settings for the Cubiculum ornatus yielding strata of the Fatehgarh Formation. This is first report of Cubiculum ornatus trace-fossils in India.