The ichnogenus originally included two ichnospecies found in close association. T. buildexensis is interpreted as the resting trace of a primitive insect, often preserving the outline of the insect's underside in great detail. T. ottawensis is interpreted as a jumping trace, likely of the same kind of insect, and provides evidence of jumping as an important form of locomotion in the earliest insects.[1][3] The trace fossils are found in beds typical of the inner freshwater reaches of
estuaries but subject to
tides. This provides evidence of the environment in which the first insects evolved.[4]
References
^
abcdeMángano, M. Gabriela; Buatois, Luis A.; Maples, Christopher G.; Lanier, William P. (29 March 1997). "Tonganoxichnus a new insect trace from the Upper Carboniferous of eastern Kansas". Lethaia. 30 (2): 113–125.
doi:
10.1111/j.1502-3931.1997.tb00451.x.
^Mángano, Maria G.; Labandeira, Conrad C.; Kvale, Erik P.; Buatois, Luis A. (September 2001). "The insect trace fossil Tonganoxichnus from the middle Pennsylvanian of Indiana: Paleobiologic and paleoenvironmental implications". Ichnos. 8 (3–4): 165–175.
doi:
10.1080/10420940109380184.
S2CID55768024.