Burrows attributable to the ghost crab Ocypode from the Korytnica basin (Middle Miocene; Holy. Cross Mountains, Poland)

Abstract

Large burrows that occur in marly sands of the upper part of the Middle Miocene (Badenian) sedimentary sequence of. the Korytnica basin (Holy Cross Mountains, Central Poland) are ascribed to the ghost crab Ocypode. The burrows, well comparable to those produced by the present-day ghost·· crabs, especially those from the Georgia coast, are indicative of extreme shallow marine or supra tidal conditions. The sedimentary processes that prevailed under such conditions in the Korytnica basin are discussed, and their bearing upon paleogeographical interpretation of the deposits containing the Ocypode burrows, and of the whole Korytnica sequence is presented.