Climactichnites is an enigmatic, Cambrian fossil formed on or within sandy tidal flats around 510 million years ago.

It has been interpreted in many different ways in the past, but is now thought to be a trace fossil of a slug-like organism that moved by crawling to on-shore surfaces, or near-shore, or burrowing into the sediment.

[1] An additional trace fossil, called Musculopodus, is sometimes found at the beginning of Climactichnites trails and represents the body imprint of the animal while it was stationary.

[2] Currently, Climactichnites is known only from North America (Missouri, New York, Wisconsin, and Texas in the United States, and Quebec and Ontario in Canada), portions of which were submerged under a shallow equatorial sea during the Cambrian Period.

[3] The binding effect of microbial mats on the sediment surface is believed to have contributed to the exceptional preservation of Climactichnites trails.