Ichnology and depositional environment of the Middle Devonian Valentia Island tetrapod trackways, south-west Ireland

Stössel, Iwan; Williams, E. A.; Higgs, Kenneth T.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.08.033

Cited by 29 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…3), had well ossified girdles and limb bones as well as a distinctive head shape with a narrow snout 7,30,43 . Moreover, the trackway record shows that tetrapods originated at least 20 million years before Parmastega 35,36 , and the very existence of the trackways -which implies weight-bearing limbs, even if the prints were made in water -points to these forms having well ossified postcranial skeletons. Together with the evidence for significant morphological homoplasy among Devonian tetrapods, this hints at a tangled and still elusive early history for limbed vertebrates.…”

Section: Phylogenetic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphology of the earliest reconstructable tetrapod Parmastega aelidae

Beznosov

Clack

Luksevics

et al. 2019

Nature

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The taxonomic diversity of Devonian tetrapods has increased dramatically in recent decades, but much of this diversity consists of tantalising fragments. The interpretative framework for the earliest stages of tetrapod evolution is still dominated by the near-complete Ichthyostega and Acanthostega, with supporting roles for the less complete but partly reconstructable Ventastega and Tulerpeton. All four are of late Famennian age, 10 million years younger than the earliest tetrapod fragments and nearly 30 million years younger than the oldest footprints. Here we describe a tetrapod from the earliest Famennian of Russia, Parmastega aelidae gen. et sp. nov., represented by three-dimensional material that allows reconstruction of almost the entire skull and dermal shoulder girdle. Its raised orbits, lateral line canals and weakly ossified postcranial skeleton suggest a largely aquatic, surface-cruising animal. In Bayesian and parsimonybased phylogenetic analyses the majority of trees place Parmastega as sister group to all other tetrapods. The rate of discovery of Devonian tetrapods accelerated greatly during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The description of Ichthyostega in 1932 was followed by

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Section: Phylogenetic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphology of the earliest reconstructable tetrapod Parmastega aelidae

Beznosov

Clack

Luksevics

et al. 2019

Nature

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“…2018); Givetian: Valentia Slate, Valentia Island, Ireland (Stössel 1995; Stössel et al . 2016); Late Devonian, probably Frasnian: Tarbat Ness, Scotland (Rogers 1990; Marshall et al 1996); Late Devonian, probably Famennian: Genoa River, Victoria, Australia (Warren & Wakefield 1972). All these localities contain multiple footprints arranged in regular trackways (Fig.…”

Section: Tetrapods: Morphology and Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Follow the footprints and mind the gaps: a new look at the origin of tetrapods

Ahlberg¹

2018

Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Socie

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The hypothesis that tetrapods evolved from elpistostegids during the Frasnian, in a predominantly aquatic context, has been challenged by the discovery of Middle Devonian tetrapod trackways predating the earliest body fossils of both elpistostegids and tetrapods. Here I present a new hypothesis based on an overview of the trace fossil and body fossil evidence. The trace fossils demonstrate that tetrapods were capable of performing subaerial lateral sequence walks before the end of the Middle Devonian. The derived morphological characters of elpistostegids and Devonian tetrapods are related to substrate locomotion, weight support and aerial vision, and thus to terrestrial competence, but the retention of lateral-line canals, gills and fin rays shows that they remained closely tied to the water. Elpistostegids and tetrapods both evolved no later than the beginning of the Middle Devonian. The earliest tetrapod records come from inland river basins, sabkha plains and ephemeral coastal lakes that preserve few, if any, body fossils; contemporary elpistostegids occur in deltas and the lower reaches of permanent rivers where body fossils are preserved. During the Frasnian, elpistostegids disappear and these riverine-deltaic environments are colonised by tetrapods. This replacement has, in the past, been misinterpreted as the origin of tetrapods.

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“…It is a remarkable fact that both the earliest (Zachełmie) and the second earliest (Valentia Island, Ireland; latest Middle Devonian 14 , 15 ) tetrapod occurrences in the fossil record consist of footprints. The earliest definite tetrapod body fossils come from Late Devonian sediments that are approximately 14 million years younger than the Zachełmie tracks, while the earliest known elpistostegid, Panderichthys , is contemporary with the Valentia Island tracks and thus some 5 million years younger than Zachełmie 16 , 17 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-marine palaeoenvironment associated to the earliest tetrapod tracks

Qvarnström

Szrek

Ahlberg

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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Opinions differ on whether the evolution of tetrapods (limbed vertebrates) from lobe-finned fishes was directly linked to terrestrialization. The earliest known tetrapod fossils, from the Middle Devonian (approximately 390 million years old) of Zachełmie Quarry in Poland, are trackways made by limbs with digits; they document a direct environmental association and thus have the potential to help answer this question. However, the tetrapod identity of the tracks has recently been challenged, despite their well-preserved morphology, on account of their great age and supposedly shallow marine (intertidal or lagoonal) depositional environment. Here we present a new palaeoenvironmental interpretation of the track-bearing interval from Zachełmie, showing that it represents a succession of ephemeral lakes with a restricted and non-marine biota, rather than a marginal marine environment as originally thought. This context suggests that the trackmaker was capable of terrestrial locomotion, consistent with the appendage morphology recorded by the footprints, and thus provides additional support for a tetrapod identification.

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Ichnology and depositional environment of the Middle Devonian Valentia Island tetrapod trackways, south-west Ireland

Cited by 29 publications

References 76 publications

Morphology of the earliest reconstructable tetrapod Parmastega aelidae

Morphology of the earliest reconstructable tetrapod Parmastega aelidae

Follow the footprints and mind the gaps: a new look at the origin of tetrapods

Non-marine palaeoenvironment associated to the earliest tetrapod tracks

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