Chondrites (genus)
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| Chondrites Temporal range: | |
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| Illustration of Chondrites bollensis. | |
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| A sample of Chondrites from the Middle Silurian. | |
Trace fossil classification  | |
| Ichnogenus: | †Chondrites Sternberg, 1833 |
Chondrites is a trace fossil ichnogenus, preserved as small branching burrows of the same diameter that superficially resemble the roots of a plant. The origin of these structures is currently unknown. Chondrites is found in marine sediments from the Cambrian period of the Paleozoic onwards. It is especially common in sediments that were deposited in reduced-oxygen environments.[1]
There are four recognized Chondrites ichnospecies, however, aberrant forms of unknown taxonomic affinity have been discovered.[2] The fossils are made of infilled dendritic rootlike burrows. The branching angles are 30° to 40°, while a shaft diameter varies between 0.1 mm and 10 mm, remaining constant within a single system.[1] Chondrites is classified as a fodinichnion.[3]