Thanks again Jack. @jkallmeyer
Since body fossils include molds and casts, using body fossil would not work in the definitions because according to 2 “: Molds can only be made against molds. (Not true.) What is the definition of: “A mold is an imprint of _______________? I could make up and define a new term of art such as “alpha fossil” to put in the “_____________”. For example: “an alpha fossil” is defined as an organism, fossil, fossil to be or a cast thereof. I guess that I am looking for the paleontology equivalent of Black’s Law Dictionary to find definitions of mold and cast.
Are there any rules when applying the terms mold and cast to trace fossils such as the infilling of a (shrimp) burrow or the infilling of a footprint? The infilling of a burrow is a ____________? I suggest that “infilling of a burrow is a mold of the interior of the burrow.” Also some people claim that: the infilling of a burrow is a cast because the borrow is a mold of the organism that created the burrow. The last sentence makes no logical sense because a “cast is a replica and/or reasonable copy of” an organism. A burrow infilling looks nothing like a shrimp.
In other words, if there are no coherent definitions for mold and cast referring to trace fossils, I would like to create a set and publish them. My definitions/rules 7 and 8 could be a basis for the new definitions.
Thanks again.