Current situation of the ichnological locality of São Domingos from the Corda Formation (Lower Cretaceous), northern Tocantins state, Brazil

• Autores: de Valais, Silvina; Candeiro, Carlos Roberto A.; Tavares, Lanuze Fabielly; Alves, Yuri Modesto; Cruvinel, Clovis
• Año de publicación: 2015
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Vertebrate Footprints; Dinosaurs; Cretaceous; Gondwana; Brazil; Ciencias Exactas y Naturales
• Institución: Universidad Nacional de Río Negro

Fil: de Valais, Silvina. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología. Río Negro, Argentina.
Fil: Candeiro, Carlos Roberto. Programa de Pós-Graduação de Ecologia de Ecotonos, Campus de Porto Nacional, Universidade Federal do Tocantins; Brasil.
Fil: Tavares, Lanuze Fabielly. Laboratório de Geologia, Curso de Geografia, Campus Pontal, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia. Rua Vinte, Brasil.
Fil: Alves, Yuri Modesto. Laboratório de Ictiologia Tempo e Espaço, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcantara Gomes, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Río de janeiro, Brasil.
Fil: Cruvinel, Clovis. Curso de Geografia, Campus de Porto Nacional, Universidade Federal do Tocantins; Brasil.
In the 80's, Leonardi treated the presence of a vertebrate ichnological locality from the Barremian Corda Formation, Parnaíba Basin, on the left bank of the Tocantins river, near of the Sao Domingos town, Ita- ~ guatins, State of Tocantins, Brazil. Originally, the record was composed of at least seven in situ trackways, accounting for fifty six tracks. Since 2011, the Hydroelectric Power Plant do Estreito has begun to work, causing the development of a water reservoir 160 km upstream to the ichnological site, causing periodic and highly energetic floods over the footprints-bearing level and altering it. The imprints are poorly to moderate preserved, but it is possible to distinguish the general morphology and the spatial arrangement of the footprints. The specimens are represented by pes imprints, mostly circular to subcircular, with no digital and claw impressions. No distinguishable manus imprints are present. The trackways are relative narrow with respect to the size of the tracks, so they are considered into the Parabrontopodus-like category. The S~ ao Domingos tracks have been originally assigned to iguanodontid dinosaurs, and posteriorly related to a sauropodian origin. This idea is herein accepted, particularly to a basal sauropod, basal macronarians, or diplodocoids. Up to date, the tracks from the Sao Domingos locality are the only ~ vertebrate fossil record from the Corda Formation, meaning an important contribution to the Cretaceous ichnofauna from South America.
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