Tetrapod tracks in amarginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significance

Autores
Marsicano, Claudia Alicia; Mancuso, Adriana Cecilia; Palma, Ricardo Manuel; Krapovickas, Antonio
Año de publicación
2010
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Fossil tetrapod footprints not only provide valuable information about trackmaker paleobiology but also to give insight into details of the depositional conditions of the substrate at the time of imprinting. Therefore, in the present study the mode of formation and taphonomy of footprints in different substrates was used to investigate the gait and walking dynamics of the trackmakers as well as a source of additional information on the environmental conditions of the track-bearing beds during imprinting. The analyzed section corresponds to thick Middle Triassic lacustrine/deltaic deposits of the Ischichuca/Los Rastros Formation (Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin) that crops out at the Quebrada de Ischichuca in northwestern Argentina. Part of the track-bearing surfaces correspond to the top of sandy distributary channel mouth bars in a distal delta front setting that were exposed along the lake margin during a lake level fall. Cross-cutting relationships observed among ripple-marks, the footprints, and invertebrate traces of a softground suite of the Scoyenia ichnofacies suggest an omission surface. Measured trackway orientations in the sandstones are perpendicular to the paleo-shoreline, with the animals coming and going along the exposed top of the bars, probably for drinking. Laterally, the distal delta front deposits interfinger with trackbearing wackestone beds of palustrine origin deposited in a restricted local embayment lateral to the delta influenced environment. Trackway orientations in the wackestones are, in contrast, consistent with the animals moving nearly parallel to the lake border, probably along a preferred route. Evidences of a relative high groundwater table at the time of imprinting in the track-bearing surfaces are revealed by the well developed rims of extruded sediment and collapsed digits in the studied tracks and the nearly absence of associated desiccation cracks on the same surfaces. Nevertheless, temporary emergence cannot be ruled out when paleosoil formation was probably promoted as can be observed in the microstructure of both sandstones and wackestones. Moreover, footprint preservation in the wackestones might have been enhanced by partial hardening of the trampled surface during subaerial exposure. Combining ichnofossil content and taphonomy with facies analysis we identified in the lower part of the Ischichuca/Los Rastros succession a relatively rapid withdrawal of the water basinward that was probably due to a forced regression during early rifting of basin evolution. Footprints can also provide valuable information about locomotion dynamics and trackmaker behavior. Thus, the sideways deformation observed in the studied footprints, attributed to basal archosaurs and putative basal dinosaurs, can be related to an outward rotation of the foot during the step cycle, a condition that might allied to the development of the parasagittal posture in Archosauria. Besides, the densely trampled surface described herein constitutes the first documented evidence of putative social behavior among therapsid dicynodonts, the most important group of herviborous animals in the early Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems throughout Gondwana.
Fil: Marsicano, Claudia Alicia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Mancuso, Adriana Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina
Fil: Palma, Ricardo Manuel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Krapovickas, Antonio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Materia
Argentina
Basin Evolution
Lacustrine Environment
Paleobiology
Taphonomy
Tetrapod Tracks
Triassic
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/68484

id CONICETDig_eb88b09f3b1735a95667213b359ffd3a
oai_identifier_str oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/68484
network_acronym_str CONICETDig
repository_id_str 3498
network_name_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
spelling Tetrapod tracks in amarginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significanceMarsicano, Claudia AliciaMancuso, Adriana CeciliaPalma, Ricardo ManuelKrapovickas, AntonioArgentinaBasin EvolutionLacustrine EnvironmentPaleobiologyTaphonomyTetrapod TracksTriassichttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1Fossil tetrapod footprints not only provide valuable information about trackmaker paleobiology but also to give insight into details of the depositional conditions of the substrate at the time of imprinting. Therefore, in the present study the mode of formation and taphonomy of footprints in different substrates was used to investigate the gait and walking dynamics of the trackmakers as well as a source of additional information on the environmental conditions of the track-bearing beds during imprinting. The analyzed section corresponds to thick Middle Triassic lacustrine/deltaic deposits of the Ischichuca/Los Rastros Formation (Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin) that crops out at the Quebrada de Ischichuca in northwestern Argentina. Part of the track-bearing surfaces correspond to the top of sandy distributary channel mouth bars in a distal delta front setting that were exposed along the lake margin during a lake level fall. Cross-cutting relationships observed among ripple-marks, the footprints, and invertebrate traces of a softground suite of the Scoyenia ichnofacies suggest an omission surface. Measured trackway orientations in the sandstones are perpendicular to the paleo-shoreline, with the animals coming and going along the exposed top of the bars, probably for drinking. Laterally, the distal delta front deposits interfinger with trackbearing wackestone beds of palustrine origin deposited in a restricted local embayment lateral to the delta influenced environment. Trackway orientations in the wackestones are, in contrast, consistent with the animals moving nearly parallel to the lake border, probably along a preferred route. Evidences of a relative high groundwater table at the time of imprinting in the track-bearing surfaces are revealed by the well developed rims of extruded sediment and collapsed digits in the studied tracks and the nearly absence of associated desiccation cracks on the same surfaces. Nevertheless, temporary emergence cannot be ruled out when paleosoil formation was probably promoted as can be observed in the microstructure of both sandstones and wackestones. Moreover, footprint preservation in the wackestones might have been enhanced by partial hardening of the trampled surface during subaerial exposure. Combining ichnofossil content and taphonomy with facies analysis we identified in the lower part of the Ischichuca/Los Rastros succession a relatively rapid withdrawal of the water basinward that was probably due to a forced regression during early rifting of basin evolution. Footprints can also provide valuable information about locomotion dynamics and trackmaker behavior. Thus, the sideways deformation observed in the studied footprints, attributed to basal archosaurs and putative basal dinosaurs, can be related to an outward rotation of the foot during the step cycle, a condition that might allied to the development of the parasagittal posture in Archosauria. Besides, the densely trampled surface described herein constitutes the first documented evidence of putative social behavior among therapsid dicynodonts, the most important group of herviborous animals in the early Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems throughout Gondwana.Fil: Marsicano, Claudia Alicia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Mancuso, Adriana Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Palma, Ricardo Manuel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Krapovickas, Antonio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaElsevier Science2010-03info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/68484Marsicano, Claudia Alicia; Mancuso, Adriana Cecilia; Palma, Ricardo Manuel; Krapovickas, Antonio; Tetrapod tracks in amarginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significance; Elsevier Science; Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology; 291; 3-4; 3-2010; 388-3990031-0182CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.03.009info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018210001379info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-03T09:44:11Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/68484instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-03 09:44:12.042CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Tetrapod tracks in amarginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significance
title Tetrapod tracks in amarginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significance
spellingShingle Tetrapod tracks in amarginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significance
Marsicano, Claudia Alicia
Argentina
Basin Evolution
Lacustrine Environment
Paleobiology
Taphonomy
Tetrapod Tracks
Triassic
title_short Tetrapod tracks in amarginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significance
title_full Tetrapod tracks in amarginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significance
title_fullStr Tetrapod tracks in amarginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significance
title_full_unstemmed Tetrapod tracks in amarginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significance
title_sort Tetrapod tracks in amarginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significance
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Marsicano, Claudia Alicia
Mancuso, Adriana Cecilia
Palma, Ricardo Manuel
Krapovickas, Antonio
author Marsicano, Claudia Alicia
author_facet Marsicano, Claudia Alicia
Mancuso, Adriana Cecilia
Palma, Ricardo Manuel
Krapovickas, Antonio
author_role author
author2 Mancuso, Adriana Cecilia
Palma, Ricardo Manuel
Krapovickas, Antonio
author2_role author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Argentina
Basin Evolution
Lacustrine Environment
Paleobiology
Taphonomy
Tetrapod Tracks
Triassic
topic Argentina
Basin Evolution
Lacustrine Environment
Paleobiology
Taphonomy
Tetrapod Tracks
Triassic
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Fossil tetrapod footprints not only provide valuable information about trackmaker paleobiology but also to give insight into details of the depositional conditions of the substrate at the time of imprinting. Therefore, in the present study the mode of formation and taphonomy of footprints in different substrates was used to investigate the gait and walking dynamics of the trackmakers as well as a source of additional information on the environmental conditions of the track-bearing beds during imprinting. The analyzed section corresponds to thick Middle Triassic lacustrine/deltaic deposits of the Ischichuca/Los Rastros Formation (Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin) that crops out at the Quebrada de Ischichuca in northwestern Argentina. Part of the track-bearing surfaces correspond to the top of sandy distributary channel mouth bars in a distal delta front setting that were exposed along the lake margin during a lake level fall. Cross-cutting relationships observed among ripple-marks, the footprints, and invertebrate traces of a softground suite of the Scoyenia ichnofacies suggest an omission surface. Measured trackway orientations in the sandstones are perpendicular to the paleo-shoreline, with the animals coming and going along the exposed top of the bars, probably for drinking. Laterally, the distal delta front deposits interfinger with trackbearing wackestone beds of palustrine origin deposited in a restricted local embayment lateral to the delta influenced environment. Trackway orientations in the wackestones are, in contrast, consistent with the animals moving nearly parallel to the lake border, probably along a preferred route. Evidences of a relative high groundwater table at the time of imprinting in the track-bearing surfaces are revealed by the well developed rims of extruded sediment and collapsed digits in the studied tracks and the nearly absence of associated desiccation cracks on the same surfaces. Nevertheless, temporary emergence cannot be ruled out when paleosoil formation was probably promoted as can be observed in the microstructure of both sandstones and wackestones. Moreover, footprint preservation in the wackestones might have been enhanced by partial hardening of the trampled surface during subaerial exposure. Combining ichnofossil content and taphonomy with facies analysis we identified in the lower part of the Ischichuca/Los Rastros succession a relatively rapid withdrawal of the water basinward that was probably due to a forced regression during early rifting of basin evolution. Footprints can also provide valuable information about locomotion dynamics and trackmaker behavior. Thus, the sideways deformation observed in the studied footprints, attributed to basal archosaurs and putative basal dinosaurs, can be related to an outward rotation of the foot during the step cycle, a condition that might allied to the development of the parasagittal posture in Archosauria. Besides, the densely trampled surface described herein constitutes the first documented evidence of putative social behavior among therapsid dicynodonts, the most important group of herviborous animals in the early Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems throughout Gondwana.
Fil: Marsicano, Claudia Alicia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Mancuso, Adriana Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina
Fil: Palma, Ricardo Manuel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Krapovickas, Antonio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
description Fossil tetrapod footprints not only provide valuable information about trackmaker paleobiology but also to give insight into details of the depositional conditions of the substrate at the time of imprinting. Therefore, in the present study the mode of formation and taphonomy of footprints in different substrates was used to investigate the gait and walking dynamics of the trackmakers as well as a source of additional information on the environmental conditions of the track-bearing beds during imprinting. The analyzed section corresponds to thick Middle Triassic lacustrine/deltaic deposits of the Ischichuca/Los Rastros Formation (Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin) that crops out at the Quebrada de Ischichuca in northwestern Argentina. Part of the track-bearing surfaces correspond to the top of sandy distributary channel mouth bars in a distal delta front setting that were exposed along the lake margin during a lake level fall. Cross-cutting relationships observed among ripple-marks, the footprints, and invertebrate traces of a softground suite of the Scoyenia ichnofacies suggest an omission surface. Measured trackway orientations in the sandstones are perpendicular to the paleo-shoreline, with the animals coming and going along the exposed top of the bars, probably for drinking. Laterally, the distal delta front deposits interfinger with trackbearing wackestone beds of palustrine origin deposited in a restricted local embayment lateral to the delta influenced environment. Trackway orientations in the wackestones are, in contrast, consistent with the animals moving nearly parallel to the lake border, probably along a preferred route. Evidences of a relative high groundwater table at the time of imprinting in the track-bearing surfaces are revealed by the well developed rims of extruded sediment and collapsed digits in the studied tracks and the nearly absence of associated desiccation cracks on the same surfaces. Nevertheless, temporary emergence cannot be ruled out when paleosoil formation was probably promoted as can be observed in the microstructure of both sandstones and wackestones. Moreover, footprint preservation in the wackestones might have been enhanced by partial hardening of the trampled surface during subaerial exposure. Combining ichnofossil content and taphonomy with facies analysis we identified in the lower part of the Ischichuca/Los Rastros succession a relatively rapid withdrawal of the water basinward that was probably due to a forced regression during early rifting of basin evolution. Footprints can also provide valuable information about locomotion dynamics and trackmaker behavior. Thus, the sideways deformation observed in the studied footprints, attributed to basal archosaurs and putative basal dinosaurs, can be related to an outward rotation of the foot during the step cycle, a condition that might allied to the development of the parasagittal posture in Archosauria. Besides, the densely trampled surface described herein constitutes the first documented evidence of putative social behavior among therapsid dicynodonts, the most important group of herviborous animals in the early Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems throughout Gondwana.
publishDate 2010
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2010-03
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/68484
Marsicano, Claudia Alicia; Mancuso, Adriana Cecilia; Palma, Ricardo Manuel; Krapovickas, Antonio; Tetrapod tracks in amarginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significance; Elsevier Science; Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology; 291; 3-4; 3-2010; 388-399
0031-0182
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/68484
identifier_str_mv Marsicano, Claudia Alicia; Mancuso, Adriana Cecilia; Palma, Ricardo Manuel; Krapovickas, Antonio; Tetrapod tracks in amarginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significance; Elsevier Science; Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology; 291; 3-4; 3-2010; 388-399
0031-0182
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.03.009
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018210001379
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier Science
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier Science
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
_version_ 1842268649005514752
score 13.13397