Earliest tetrapod trackway

Warren, Anne; Jupp, R.; Bolton, Barrie R.

doi:10.1080/03115518608619153

Cited by 51 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…However it appears that the remains of reptiles are also well-represented in earliest Carboniferous strata (Sarjeant and Mossman 1978a). Indeed, the existence of terrestrial tetrapods has now been pushed back to Late Devonian on the basis of palaeoichnological evidence (Warren et al 1986) as well as skeletal remains (Daeschler et al 1994). The Horton Bluff fossils confirm that, with respect to tetrapod evolution, appendicular mechanisms of support and propulsion were well-developed by the Early Carboniferous.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 55%

Eochelysipus horni, a new vertebrate trace fossil from the Tournaisian Horton Bluff Formation, Nova Scotia

Mossman

Grantham²

2008

atgeol

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A new vertebrate trackway is described from the coastal-marine sequence at Blue Beach and Horton Bluff, Nova Scotia. Eochelysipus horni ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov., features a wide trackway, low pace angle, elongate anteriorly oriented digital scrape marks, hands slightly interior to the trackway, and five-toed hind limbs. It is probably that of a parareptile and a close ancestral form to turtles; the trackway was impressed on firm mud. Present nearby at the same stratigraphic level is a topotype of Peratodactylopus bishopi ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov., a trackway of a captorhinomorph reptile discovered here in 1974. Elsewhere at Blue Beach a large enigmatic trackway (Baropezia ichnosp.?) attests to the wide range of tetrapod morphologies present in these Tournaisian sediments. The assemblage of fossils, palaeoichnological and osteological alike, highlight the importance of this locality for revealing details of Earth's early air breathing community at the Devonian-Mississippian transition. RÉSUMÉUne nouvelle piste de vertébré est décrite dans la séquence côtière-marine de la falaise Blue Beach Horton, en Nouvelle-Écosse. L'ichnogenre et ichnoespèce nouvelle Eochelysipus horni se caractérise par une piste large, un angle de train bas, des marques de frottement digital orientées vers l'avant et allongées, des mains légèrement à l'intérieur de la piste et des membres arrière à cinq orteils. Il s'agit probablement de la piste d'un parareptile et d'une forme ancestrale proche des tortues; l'animal a empreint son passage dans une boue ferme. On relève à proximité, au même niveau stratigraphique, la présence d'un topotype de l'ichnogenre et ichnoespèce nouvelle Peratodactylopus bishopi, une piste d'un reptile captorhinomorphe découvert au même endroit en 1974. Ailleurs à Blue Beach, une piste importante énigmatique (ichnoespèce Baropezia?) atteste le vaste éventail de morphologies de tétrapodes présentes dans ces sédi-ments du Tournaisien. L'assemblage de fossiles, tant paléoichnologiques qu'ostéologiques, met en relief l'importance de cet emplacement pour la révélation de détails sur la première communauté atmosphérique de la terre à l'époque de la transition du Dévonien au Mississippien.[

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 55%

Eochelysipus horni, a new vertebrate trace fossil from the Tournaisian Horton Bluff Formation, Nova Scotia

Mossman

Grantham²

2008

atgeol

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“…We have shown here that gaits similar to those indicated by some early fossil trackways attributed to early tetrapods (1,3,9,14) can be produced by nontetrapod sarcopterygians. Trackways lacking unambiguous evidence of digits, particularly those from the Devonian, when sarcopterygian fishes were diverse and abundant (8,32), are now open to question.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…Many fossil trackways from the Devonian are indicative of quadrupedal and bipedal gaits very similar to those used by modern terrestrial tetrapods (1,3,9,13,14). That tracks were preserved demonstrates that these animals were walking on a substrate.…”

mentioning

confidence: 87%

“…One essential adaptation in the evolution of tetrapods was the ability to locomote on land, a trait that required significant morphological and functional changes in the appendicular system. Many of these morphological changes can be observed in the fossil record (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). Work on basal tetrapod fossils has revealed that even those with digited limbs can be aquatic (5,7).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavioral evidence for the evolution of walking and bounding before terrestriality in sarcopterygian fishes

King

Shubin

Coates

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

119

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Tetrapods evolved from sarcopterygian fishes in the Devonian and were the first vertebrates to colonize land. The locomotor component of this transition can be divided into four major events: terrestriality, the origins of digited limbs, solid substrate-based locomotion, and alternating gaits that use pelvic appendages as major propulsors. As the sister group to tetrapods, lungfish are a morphologically and phylogenetically relevant sarcopterygian taxon for understanding the order in which these events occurred. We found that a species of African lungfish (Protopterus annectens) uses a range of pelvic fin-driven, tetrapod-like gaits, including walking and bounding, in an aquatic environment, despite having a derived limb endoskeleton and primitively small, muscularly supported pelvis. Surprisingly, given these morphological traits, P. annectens also lifts its body clear of the substrate using its pelvic fins, an ability thought to be a tetrapod innovation. Our findings suggest that some fundamental features of tetrapod locomotion, including pelvic limb gait patterns and substrate association, probably arose in sarcopterygians before the origin of digited limbs or terrestriality. It follows that the attribution of some of the nondigited Devonian fossil trackways to limbed tetrapods may need to be revisited.T he vertebrate water-to-land transition initiated in the Devonian was a key event in the history of life. The ability to move in a variety of terrestrial and semiterrestrial environments opened up a range of new ecosystems for colonization and led to the diversity of tetrapod clades we see today. One essential adaptation in the evolution of tetrapods was the ability to locomote on land, a trait that required significant morphological and functional changes in the appendicular system. Many of these morphological changes can be observed in the fossil record (1-14). Work on basal tetrapod fossils has revealed that even those with digited limbs can be aquatic (5, 7). Some major questions these findings raised were how tetrapod-like limbs functioned in aquatic habitats, and in what sequence the characteristics of terrestrial tetrapod locomotion were acquired. These characteristics include the broad use of alternating limb movements, as in walking, the use of pelvic appendages as major propulsors, and the use of a bottom substrate (i.e., the solid surface underlying the fluid environment) to generate propulsive force.Whereas body fossils cannot directly inform the order in which these functional traits were acquired, fossil trackways can give us valuable information on how animals moved. Many fossil trackways from the Devonian are indicative of quadrupedal and bipedal gaits very similar to those used by modern terrestrial tetrapods (1,3,9,13,14). That tracks were preserved demonstrates that these animals were walking on a substrate. That these trackways have a cosmopolitan distribution implies that the animals responsible for generating them were themselves widespread, and likely abundant and diverse. Because we can...

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“…The suggestion that tetrapods may occur at an earlier age in East Gondwana has been raised (Long, 1990;Warren et ., 1986;Young 2006) but dismissed by others due to lack of convincing trackway data (Clack, 1997). A new chronology for tetrapod origins has been suggested based on the recent discoveries of putative tetrapod tracks and trackways in the basal Middle Devonian (Eifelian) of Poland (Niedźwiedzki et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First Articulated Phyllolepid Placoderm from North America, with Comments on Phyllolepid Systematics

Long

Daeschler²

2013

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

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Earliest tetrapod trackway

Cited by 51 publications

References 8 publications

Eochelysipus horni, a new vertebrate trace fossil from the Tournaisian Horton Bluff Formation, Nova Scotia

Eochelysipus horni, a new vertebrate trace fossil from the Tournaisian Horton Bluff Formation, Nova Scotia

Behavioral evidence for the evolution of walking and bounding before terrestriality in sarcopterygian fishes

First Articulated Phyllolepid Placoderm from North America, with Comments on Phyllolepid Systematics

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