Commentary

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Abstract
Nearly a century of descriptive work on graphoglyptids has yielded little information on the biologic affinity of tracemakers or the ecologie significance of these peculiar spiral, meander, and network trace fossils. Most graphoglyptids were constructed by shallow‐burrowing invertebrates that belonged to stable, diverse, deepsea ecosystems; however, the functional role(s) of the tracemakers, in both ancient and modern ecosystems, is virtually unknown. Do the organisms producing graphoglyptids trap meiobenthos or cultivate bacteria/fungi; or, could the varied burrow morphologies indicate many different functional roles, perhaps including caching of seasonally abundant food, utilization of dissolved carbon, chemosymbiosis, or maintenance of multifunctional nests? In terms of the Phanerozoic development of deepsea trace fossil assemblages, was the apparent enrichment of ichnotaxa (including graphoglyptids) in the late Mesozoic linked to the appearance and proliferation of angiosperms; or, did changes in oceanic plankton alter the disturbance regime at the deepsea floor, promoting an interval of diversification in trace fossil morphology? These questions could possibly be answered by applying the actualistic methodology used successfully in studies of shallow‐marine trace fossils, despite the practical problems of retrieving suitable samples from modern deepsea environments, as well as by the discovery and careful documentation of additional deepwater ichnofaunas.