Abstract

In this paper, I present the first global overview of the members of fossil ichnotaxon Osedacoides and it recent relatives of the morphogenus Osedax. Close on 15 years ago those worms were found on sea floor fallen whalebones that dissolve last recyclers in the food chain to the bone [25]. Before that time it was simply technically not possible to observe a whale carcass over a longer period of time and to study the dynamics of the submarine carcasse- societies. Probably the Osedacoides do not specialize in whales, but they did also in past geological ages already been feasting on carcasses, as boreholes show in fossils. The main focus of this work is on the fossil evidences.