Some recent papers on Mesozoic tetrapod tracks:
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Maria Izabel Lima de Manes, Rafael Costa da Silva & Sandro Marcelo Scheffler (2021)
Dinosaurs and rivers on the edge of a desert: A first recognition of fluvial deposits associated to the Botucatu Formation (Jurassic/Cretaceous), Brazil
Journal of South American Earth Sciences 103339
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103339
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0895981121001863
Maria Izabel Lima de Manes, Rafael Costa da Silva & Sandro Marcelo Scheffler (2021)
Dinosaurs and rivers on the edge of a desert: A first recognition of fluvial deposits associated to the Botucatu Formation (Jurassic/Cretaceous), Brazil
Journal of South American Earth Sciences 103339
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103339
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0895981121001863
Highlights
First occurrence of fluvial deposits related to the desertic Botucatu Formation.
Dinosaur tracks, vertebrate burrows and invertebrate ichnofossils were documented.
A significant part of Permian Aquidauana Formation is reinterpreted as Jurassic-Cretaceous Botucatu Formation.
Sedimentological interpretation suggesting a fluvial system at the basal section of the Botucatu Formation.
Abstract
This work aimed to investigate the ichnofossiliferous sites in Nioaque and surrounding region, Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil, analyzing their paleontological, stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental context, because dinosaur tracks were found in an area previously mapped as Permo-Carboniferous age. Some sedimentary facies previously assigned to the glacial Aquidauana Formation were herein reinterpreted as part of the basal section of the Botucatu Formation (Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous) and include floodplain and residual channel deposits, possibly representing the lower half of this formation's sequence in the studied area. The ichnofossils that have been found include both isolated tracks of Theropoda and Ornithopoda, a trackway of Eubrontes isp., a vertebrate burrow and invertebrate traces (Palaeophycus) possibly related to the Entradichnus ichnofacies. Sedimentological interpretation suggests the existence of a river system just before the deposition of the typical Botucatu eolian facies in this region. This is the first documented record of fluvial deposits transitionally to the traditional eolian Botucatu Formation. Noteworthy, the dinosaur tracks have played a key role for the interpretation of these rocks as Botucatu Formation and for better understanding the whole system due to the impossible Paleozoic age (dinosaur tracks).
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Donald H. Goldstein & Patrick Getty (2021)
The illustration of dinosaur tracks through time
GSA Memoirs: Editors: Renee M. Clary; Gary D. Rosenberg; Dallas C. Evans. The Evolution of Paleontological Art
Publisher: Geological Society of America
EISBN: 9780813782188
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1130/2021.1218(16)
https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/2313/chapter/129688110/The-illustration-of-dinosaur-tracks-through-time
Â
Dinosaur tracks have been illustrated since they were first found. The earliest illustrations depicted dinosaur tracks as the work of mythical beings.With the advent of scientific inquiry into dinosaur tracks in the nineteenth century, natural explanations were sought for the fossil tracks. Illustrations of the period were relatively realistic but were influenced by then-current beliefs and were constrained by the artistsâ skills and by what scientists considered salient. In the mid-nineteenth century, the first photographs were used for the scientific study of fossil tracks. Photography eliminated some imitations of artistic talent and showed complete specimens, not just aspects that were deemed salient. The ability to compare and name similar tracks from disparate authors and places became easier. Advances in photography, laserscanning, optical scanning and lidar, and the ability to manipulate images with computers, have enabled the modern synthesis of illustrating dinosaur tracks,which combines many types of images. With each advance and the adoption of newer technologies, the older methods have not been retired. Rather, we have continued to see new uses for old methods and an integration of illustrative styles.Â
Dinosaur tracks have been illustrated since they were first found. The earliest illustrations depicted dinosaur tracks as the work of mythical beings.With the advent of scientific inquiry into dinosaur tracks in the nineteenth century, natural explanations were sought for the fossil tracks. Illustrations of the period were relatively realistic but were influenced by then-current beliefs and were constrained by the artistsâ skills and by what scientists considered salient. In the mid-nineteenth century, the first photographs were used for the scientific study of fossil tracks. Photography eliminated some imitations of artistic talent and showed complete specimens, not just aspects that were deemed salient. The ability to compare and name similar tracks from disparate authors and places became easier. Advances in photography, laserscanning, optical scanning and lidar, and the ability to manipulate images with computers, have enabled the modern synthesis of illustrating dinosaur tracks,which combines many types of images. With each advance and the adoption of newer technologies, the older methods have not been retired. Rather, we have continued to see new uses for old methods and an integration of illustrative styles.Â
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Not yet mentioned:
Free pdf:
Hendrik Klein and Spencer G. Lucas (2021)
The Triassic Tetrapod Footprint Record.
New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science Bulletin 83: 1-194
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347895198_THE_TRIASSIC_TETRAPOD_FOOTPRINT_RECORD
Triassic tetrapod footprints have been studied since the 1830s and are now known from all of the Worldâs continents. An ichnotaxonomic revision of all Triassic tetrapod ichnogenera recognizes 34 valid ichnogenera: Anshunpes, Apatopus, Atreipus, Banisterobates, Batrachichnus, Batrachopus, Brachychirotherium, Brasilichnium, Capitosauroides, Characichnos, Chelonipus, Chirotherium, Dicynodontipus, Dikoposichnus, Dolomitipes, Eoanomoepus, Eosauropus, Eubrontes, Evazoum, Grallator, Gwyneddichnium, Isochirotherium, Pengxianpus, Pentasauropus, Procolophonichnium, Protochirotherium, Protorodactylus, Pseudotetrasauropus, Rhynchosauroides, Rotodactylus, Synaptichnium, Tetrasauropus, Therapsipus and Trisauropodiscus. A comprehensive, ichnospecies-level ichnotaxonomic revision of chirotheriid footprints recognizes the following ichnospecies as valid: Brachychirotherium hassfurtense, B. thuringiacum, B. parvum, Chirotherium barthii, C. ferox, C. ladinicum, C. postchirotherioides, C. ischigualastianum, C. rex, C. sickleri, Isochirotherium soergeli, I. herculis, I. coltoni, I. lomasi, I. marshalli, I. coureli, I. felenci, Protochirotherium wolfhagense, P. hauboldi, Synaptichnium pseudosuchoides, S. diabloense, S. cameronense and S. kotanskii. A comprehensive review of the geographic and stratigraphic distribution of Triassic footprints identifies five tetrapod biochrons of Triassic age, mostly based on archosaur footprint ichnotaxa: (1) Earliest Triassic dicynodont footprints of Lootsbergian (= latest Changshingian-Induan) age; (2) Protochirotherium in strata of Nonesian age (=Olenekian); (3) The appearance of Chirotherium barthii and C. sickleri, Rotodactylus, Isochirotherium and Synaptichnium ("Brachychirotherium") roughly demarcates the Nonesian-Perovkan (late Olenekian-Anisian) transition; (4) The appearance of tridactyl footprints and quadrupedal to bipedal trackways of the Atreipus-Grallator type (âCoelurosaurichnusâ) demarcates the late Perovkan-Berdyankian (= late Anisian-Ladinian); and (5) Brachychirotherium (sensu stricto) appears at the beginning of the Otischalkian (= early Carnian) and is a characteristic ichnotaxon of the Late Triassic. Triassic tetrapod footprint assemblages can be assigned to the five archetypal tetrapod footprint ichnofacies (Batrachichnus, Brontopodus, Grallator, Chelichnus and Characichnos) and encompass diverse ichnocoenoses. An ichnological perspective based on footprints on Triassic tetrapod evolution reaches the following conclusions: (1) the tetrapod-footprint record lends no support to identification of a mass extinction of tetrapods across the Permo-Triassic boundary; (2) the upright gait originated during the Permian but was employed by diverse taxa, many bipedal, during the Triassic; (3) dicynodont therapsids diminished during the Triassic from abundant in the Early Triassic, to extinct late in the Triassic, whereas cynodonts were much more abundant and diverse during the Triassic; (4) the oldest turtle fossils are Early Triassic footprints, which significantly predate the oldest turtle body fossils, which are of Late Triassic (Carnian) age; (5) the oldest dinosaur body fossils are of Late Triassic (Carnian) age, but some footprints of Middle Triassic age were plausibly made by dinosaurs; and (6) both the body fossil and footprint record indicate a prolonged interval of high extinction rates and low origination rates of tetrapods across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, not a single mass extinction of tetrapods.
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Hendrik Klein (2021)
TetrapodenfÃhrten des Muschelkalks. [Tetrapod footprints of the Muschelkalk]
Stratigraphie von Deutschland XIII. Muschelkalk Teil I. Schriftenreihe Deutsche Gesellschaft fÃr Geowissenschaften 9(1): 226-235
https://www.schweizerbart.de/publications/detail/isbn/9783510492435/Schriftenreihe_der_Dt_Gesf_Geowissens#t10596
TetrapodenfÃhrten des Muschelkalks. [Tetrapod footprints of the Muschelkalk]
Stratigraphie von Deutschland XIII. Muschelkalk Teil I. Schriftenreihe Deutsche Gesellschaft fÃr Geowissenschaften 9(1): 226-235
https://www.schweizerbart.de/publications/detail/isbn/9783510492435/Schriftenreihe_der_Dt_Gesf_Geowissens#t10596
Abstract only
Tetrapod footprints from the marginal-marine facies of the Muschelkalk (Anisian-Ladinian) give rare insight into terrestrial vertebrate faunas of the Central European Basin, which was influenced by marine transgression during this time interval. Ichno-assemblages from both shallow-marine and fluvial deposits reflect vertebrate communities of different composition. The carbonatic marginal-marine deposits of the Vossenveld Formation of Winterswijk (The Netherlands) are dominated by lacertoid footprints of the ichnogenus Rhynchosauroides. These can be attributed to lepidosauromorph or archosauromorph track makers. Furthermore, footprints that can possibly be assigned to therapsid Synapsida or basal Sauropsida (Procolophonichnium) are common, while archosaur footprints (chirotheriids) are rare. Contrary, on surfaces of the fluvial, siliciclastic deposits of the Eschenbach and GrafenwÃhr formations of northeastern Bavaria, chirotherians are dominant. The diversity and composition of the ichnofauna with Isochirotherium, Synaptichnium, "Sphingopus", Atreipus-Grallator, Rotodactylus, Gwyneddichnium, Rhynchosauroides, Procolophonichnium and Dicynodontipus is remarkable and is similar to assemblages Âfrom the Middle Triassic of France. Bio-(ichno-) stratigraphically, the presence of Atreipus-Grallator footprints indicates a characteristic ichnofauna of the late Middle Triassic. In particular, these footprints document the evolution of archosaurs with the development of different pes morphologies as well as the early rise of dinosauromorphs. A conclusive correlation of footprints with skeletons of semi-aquatic or aquatic reptiles in the Vossenveld Formation is not possible. However, the presence of the ichnogenus Gwyneddichnium in the Eschenbach Formation possibly indicates semi-aquatic tanystropheids.
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