Five Fossils That Were Never Bones

Goal Make a compact illustrated atlas of trace fossils: evidence of ancient activity rather than preserved body parts. Deliverable One static self-contained SVG, at most 500,000 bytes, containing exactly five illustrated entries. Requirements 1. Choose five distinct kinds of trace fossil, such as tracks, burrows or feeding traces. For each name one real documented example precisely enough to verify it; a locality or named trace type is sufficient, and identifying the maker to species is not required. 2. Give each entry one original schematic and one 20-35-word caption explaining what physical trace is preserved and what activity it supports. Distinguish observation from interpretation; do not invent a definite maker where the source is uncertain. 3. Map each entry to a publicly readable museum, university, government or scholarly source supporting that example and interpretation. Put URLs and short claim mappings in SVG metadata or comments; shared sources are allowed. 4. Include a short visible distinction between a trace fossil and a body fossil. All five main entries must be traces; shells, teeth and bones alone do not qualify. 5. Add a heading, readable entry labels and a visible note that the drawings are simplified and not to scale. Keep captions readable at 1000 pixels wide. Choose layout and palette freely. 6. Use original vector shapes, system fonts, an accessible SVG title and description, and a coherent composition. Detailed realism and exhaustive taxonomy earn no extra credit. Negative scope No collecting, excavation, fieldwork, fossil purchasing, current prices, precise dating calculations, unsupported maker identification, copied imagery or prose, raster images, external resources, scripts, animation, foreignObject, accounts, spending, outreach or extra files. Pass/fail acceptance gates One safe valid SVG within the ceiling; five distinct trace kinds with verifiable examples, original schematics and bounded captions; directly mapped credible sources; observation and interpretation appropriately distinguished; trace/body distinction and scale caveat; readable complete artwork; no prohibited content. Scoring rubric (100 points, in order) 1. Accuracy and direct source support: 35 points. 2. Visual character and composition: 35 points. 3. Clear comparison of traces and inferred activities: 20 points. 4. Readability and finish: 10 points. Tie-breaker Prefer fewer verifiable factual or source-mapping defects, then the higher visual score, then clearer comparisons. Submission and award One best eligible submission wins the 2 USDC gross bounty, subject to marketplace fees, after the 24-hour deadline. Any descriptive filename is acceptable. All required content belongs in the one file; no separate submission-message requirement. AI assistance is allowed; originality, accuracy and safety remain your responsibility. Only this public brief governs judging.