Related Papers
PeerJ
Tetrapod tracks in Permo-Triassic eolian beds of southern Brazil (Paraná Basin)
2018 •
Spencer Lucas
Tetrapod tracks in eolianites are widespread in the fossil record since the late Paleozoic. Among these ichnofaunas, the ichnogenus is the most representative of the Permian tetrapod ichnological record of eolian deposits of Europe, North America and South America, where the Ichnofacies often occurs. In this contribution, we describe five sets of tracks (one of which is preserved in cross-section), representing the first occurrence of and in the "Pirambóia Formation" of southern Brazil. This unit represents a humid desert in southwestern Pangea and its lower and upper contacts lead us to consider its age as Lopingian-Induan. The five sets of tracks studied were compared with several ichnotaxa and body fossils with appendicular elements preserved, allowing us to attribute these tracks to dicynodonts and other indeterminate therapsids. Even though the "Pirambóia Formation" track record is sparse and sub-optimally preserved, it is an important key to better understa...
Palaios
TETRAPOD FOOTPRINT PALEOECOLOGY: BEHAVIOR, TAPHONOMY AND ICHNOFAUNA DISENTANGLED. A CASE STUDY FROM THE LOWER PERMIAN OF THE SOUTHERN ALPS (ITALY
2017 •
Ausonio Ronchi
Vertebrate tracks are linked to the depositional environment where they were formed. Several studies hypothesized a paleoenvironmental control on vertebrate track ichnocoenoses, although this issue was never analyzed thoroughly. A new study of the sedimentology and tetrapod ichnology of two key stratigraphic sections in the Pizzo del Diavolo Formation of the lower Permian continental Orobic Basin of Southern Alps (Italy) tested the link between tetrapod ichnocoenoses and depositional environment. Behavior, taphonomy, and ichnocoenoses of three different lithozones (P-PDV, U-PDVa, U-PDVb) were analyzed and compared, two new census methods for tetrapod tracks were tested (''track/slab'' and ''weighting size'') and the first was applied to our specimen sample. The possible biostratigraphic meaning of track occurrences/relative proportions were discussed and excluded. Results indicate a predominance of the ichnogenus Erpetopus in a distal floodplain environment (P-PDV), a diverse ichnocoenosis in a proximal floodplain environment (U-PDVa), and a predominance of the ichnogenus Dromopus in a scarcely diverse ichnocoenosis in a floodplain/marginal lacustrine environment (U-PDVb). This encourages further detailed studies on tetrapod track paleoecology, in order to refine and give utility to the concept of tetrapod ichnofacies.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
A new tetrapod ichnotaxon from Botucatu Formation, Lower Cretaceous (Neocomian), Brazil, with comments on fossil track preservation on inclined planes and local paleoecology
2017 •
Pedro Buck
On the first description of tetrapod footprints from Italy: re-analysis of the original specimen after 150 years
2018 •
Lorenzo Marchetti, Roberta Rossi
In Italy, vertebrate ichnology developed rather recently, especially starting from the 70’s of the last century. However, fossil footprints from Italian continental successions were known since the 19th century. The first scientific note was published by Curioni (1870), after a short report on the same material by Geinitz (1869). Curioni described and drew a small slab with tetrapod tracks from the lower Permian strata of Lombardy (Collio Formation, upper Trompia Valley, Brescian Alps), found by the private collector Don Bruni, Priest of Collio. Subsequent publications always referred to that description, but the original specimen was never restudied, due also to the absence of information about the repository (Curioni, 1870). The original specimen belongs to the prestigious Curioni collection (donated by Curioni to the Regio Ufficio Geologico in 1877) and is nowadays located in the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) in Rome. Grounding on the most advanced ichnological methods, in this paper we provide a redescription of the specimen. The study ultimately confirmed the attribution of the three main tracks (a pes-manus couple and a single manual imprint) to the ichnogenus Amphisauropus, tracks probably produced by seymouriamorph reptiliomorphs. Smaller footprints on the same surface were instead assigned to Dromopus, tracks probably left by diapsid reptiles or bolosaurid parareptiles. The note by Curioni thus represents the first report of vertebrate footprints from Italy, the first description of material assignable to Amphisauropus in the world, and one of the earliest on material referable to Dromopus. The studied slab could also represent the earliest finding of Amphisauropus, although uncertainties on timing of Don Bruni’s discovery exist. We note that only a careful management of the ancient Italian palaeontological heritage allowed our re-analyses of Curioni’s original specimen, almost 150 years after the last study. This study therefore highlights also the role of scientific collections for both preservation and valorisation of geo-palaeontologic heritage.
The Carboniferous tetrapod ichnoassociation from Italy
2020 •
Giuseppe Muscio
The tetrapod footprints from the Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) of Italy come from the late Moscovian San Giorgio Formation of Sardinia and the early Ghzelian Corona Formation of the Carnian Alps. They include exclusively anamniote tracks: the ichnogenera Batrachichnus and Limnopus and tetrapod tracks indet. similar to Matthewichnus . The occurrence of anamniote tracks may have a marked palaeoecological meaning, since these tetrapods were tied to water for reproduction. These tracks represent the oldest record of tetrapods from Italy (either from trace fossils and skeletons) and the oldest Italian record of these ichnogenera. Despite the fragmentary material and the few known localities, the Pennsylvanian of Italy has a noteworthy potential for further prospecting, because of the relatively good preservation and the stratigraphy of the track-bearing formations. The Italian ichnoassociation could be the key for the understanding of the Notalacerta and Dromopus footprint biochrons in t...
Gondwana Research
Permian-Triassic vertebrate footprints from South Africa: Ichnotaxonomy, producers and biostratigraphy through two major faunal crises
2019 •
Lorenzo Marchetti, Hendrik Klein, Michael Buchwitz, Ausonio Ronchi, Gideon H. Groenewald
The fossil record of mid to late Permian terrestrial vertebrates in the South African Karoo Basin is regarded as the most abundant and diverse in the world. Despite the extensive research on body fossils, to-date the vertebrate footprint sites have not been subjected to an anatomy-consistent ichnotaxonomic investigation. Here we present a comprehensive ichnotaxonomic revision of Permian-Early Triassic tracksites in the main Karoo Basin of South Africa. Furthermore, a track-trackmaker correlation for all Permian synapsid groups is provided for the first time, based on the analysis of the functional morphology of potential producers. The following ichnotaxa and their proposed trackmakers are recognized: Brontopus giganteus (dinocephalians), cf. Capitosauroides isp. (therocephalians), cf. Dicynodontipus isp. (cynodonts), Dolomitipes accordii (small dicynodonts), Dolomitipes icelsi n. comb. (large dicynodonts), Karoopes gansfonteinensis n. igen. n. isp. (gorgonopsids), Procolophonichnium nopcsai (procolophonids) and Rhynchosauroides isp. (non-archosauriform diapsids). Three different footprint assemblages (FA I-III) are proposed for footprint biostratigraphy: FA I (lower Tapinocephalus AZ), a Guadalupian assemblage dominated by dinocephalian tracks; FA II (topmost Tapinocephalus-Cistecephalus AZ), a latest Guadalupian-Wuchiapingian assemblage dominated by gorgonopsid and dicynodont tracks in association with subordinate therocephalian tracks and FA III (lower Lystrosaurus AZ), an Induan assemblage with dicynodont, cynodont, procolophonid and diapsid tracks. The lower FA II includes the earliest ichnofauna with Lopingian affinity all over the world (topmost Tapinocephalus-Pristerognathus AZ, ~260-259 Ma) and could indicate an early recovery phase after the end-Guadalupian mass extinction, because of the high abundance of large gorgonopsid tracks and absence of dinocephalian tracks. This footprint record may also predate the body fossil record, suggesting an earlier gorgonopsid radiation. FA III represents the earliest and most complete post end-Permian extinction ichnofauna, which includes an early phase of abundant small dicynodont tracks, potentially indicating a stressed post-event community. Nevertheless, this ichnofauna looks very similar to pre-extinction ichnofaunas from Europe, in agreement with the skeletal record at the Daptocephalus-Lystrosaurus AZ transition.
New Permian fauna from tropical Gondwana
Juan Carlos Cisneros, Martha Richter, Kenneth Angielczyk, Jörg Fröbisch, Christian Kammerer
PloS one
A temnospondyl trackway from the early Mesozoic of western Gondwana and its implications for basal tetrapod locomotion
2014 •
Jeff Wilson
Temnospondyls are one of the earliest radiations of limbed vertebrates. Skeletal remains of more than 190 genera have been identified from late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic rocks. Paleozoic temnospondyls comprise mainly small to medium sized forms of diverse habits ranging from fully aquatic to fully terrestrial. Accordingly, their ichnological record includes tracks described from many Laurasian localities. Mesozoic temnospondyls, in contrast, include mostly medium to large aquatic or semi-aquatic forms. Exceedingly few fossil tracks or trackways have been attributed to Mesozoic temnospondyls, and as a consequence very little is known of their locomotor capabilities on land. We report a ca. 200 Ma trackway, Episcopopus ventrosus, from Lesotho, southern Africa that was made by a 3.5 m-long animal. This relatively long trackway records the trackmaker dragging its body along a wet substrate using only the tips of its digits, which in the manus left characteristic drag marks. Based on ...
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
Tetrapod footprints - their use in biostratigraphy and biochronology of the Triassic
2010 •
Spencer Lucas
The Gerola Valley site (Orobic Basin, Northern Italy): A key for understanding late Early Permian tetrapod ichnofaunas
Lorenzo Marchetti, Giuseppe Santi
A taxonomic study has been carried out on the historical Gerola Valley locality (Pizzo del Diavolo formation, late Cisuralian), which represents one of the best tetrapod ichnosites of the whole Southern Alps (North Italy). With respect to previous studies, the ichnoassociation is now enlarged and lists the following taxa: Amphisauropus, Dromopus, Erpetopus, Hyloidichnus, Limnopus, Varanopus. The optimal preservation of the material, which in some cases shows even traces of the skin, allowed the recognition of a newmorphotype of Varanopus. The invertebrate ichnoassociation is newly described and is representative of impoverished Scoyenia and Mermia ichnofacies. A detailed facies analysis of the uppermost arenitic–pelitic lithofacies of the Pizzo del Diavolo formation, which revealed the most abundant fossil content (Locality 1) and of two new localities (pelitic facies, Localities 2, 3) shows a transition from shallow lacustrine to floodplain and alluvial fan environments under a generally dry climate. Besides the taxonomic revision of vertebrate tracks, the final aims of our study are: i) the depositional, palaeoenvironmental and climatic reconstruction of this sector of the Orobic Basin through an integration of palaeontological data and facies analysis; and ii) the regional correlation of this key stratigraphic succession with other coeval ichnofaunas in Pangaea.
