Probable tetrapod tracks rediscovered in the Devonian of N Scotland

Rogers, D. A.

doi:10.1144/gsjgs.147.5.0746

Cited by 24 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The earliest tetrapod footprints are known from Middle-Upper Devonian rocks from Australia, Ireland, Scotland, Poland and eastern North America (Warren & Wakefield 1972;Warren et al 1986;Rogers 1990;Stössel 1995;Clack 1997Clack , 2002Niedźwiedzki et al 2010). Devonian tetrapod footprints are very rare and somewhat difficult to study (Clack 1997;Niedźwiedzki et al 2010), and like the Middle-Upper Devonian tetrapod body fossil record (Ahlberg et al 2000;Clack 2002), the coeval ichnological record lacks abundance (Lucas 2007;Niedźwiedzki et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carboniferous tetrapod footprints from the Lublin Basin, SE Poland

Niedźwiedzki

2014

GFF

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Evidence of tetrapod footprints is scarce in the Carboniferous rocks of Europe and only a dozen sites have been found. Here is presented the first description of the Carboniferous tetrapod traces collected from the Bogdanka Coal Mine, Lublin Basin, south-eastern Poland. The footprints occur in reddish, white-gray sandstone or black-brown siltstone-mudstone, fluvial and lacustrine in origin, of the Westphalian A and B (about 315 and 310 Ma, lower-middle Pennsylvanian) of the Lublin Formation. Based on the study of 19 specimens (isolated and usually poorly preserved manus or pes imprints), I discern two distinct types of tetrapod footprints and also problematic traces (or scratches) made by swimming tetrapods. Footprints are assigned to the two ichnotaxa: Batrachichnus-Limnopus plexus and aff. Pseudobradypus isp. Traces described as Tetrapoda indet. A -C represent poorly preserved footprints, which are similar to the ichnogenera Ichniotherium, Dimetropus and Attenosaurus. The described trace fossils were produced by small amphibians (temnospondyls) and medium-sized amniotes (reptiliomorphs and reptiles). The tetrapod ichnofauna from the Bogdanka Coal Mine is similar in composition to Pennsylvanian ichnofaunas from Europe and North America.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carboniferous tetrapod footprints from the Lublin Basin, SE Poland

Niedźwiedzki

2014

GFF

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“…Both of these trackways are narrow, with a maximum width (between lateral edges of pes prints) apparently not exceeding 11 cm. By contrast, the probable stem tetrapod trackway described by Rogers (1990) from the Upper Old Red Sandstone of Tarbat Ness, Scotland, is up to 35 cm wide and is thus in approximately the same size range as Ebnerpeton.…”

Section: The Palaeobiology Of Elglnerpetonmentioning

confidence: 88%

Postcranial stem tetrapod remains from the Devonian of Scat Craig, Morayshire, Scotland

Ahlberg¹

1998

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

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The postcranial stem tetrapod remains from Scat Craig include a neural arch, humerus, tibia, femur, and incomplete pectoral girdles and ilia. These elements are all large or very large compared with the corresponding bones of other stem tetrapods. They correlate well in size with the proportions of Ebnerpeton, the known stem tetrapod from Scat Craig, and probably belong to this genus. The neural arch has weak zygapophyses, and the ilia and shoulder girdles resemble those of Zchthyostega. The femur is strongly twisted, with the intercondylar fossa facing anteroventrally, so the hind limb probably functioned as a paddle. The tibia is broad, as in Acanthostegu and Zchthyostega. The humerus is approximately intermediate in shape between those of osteolepiforms and later stem tetrapods, but seems to have a ventral radial facet like Zchthyostega. Overall, the postcranial bones combine apparent synapomorphies with Zchthyostega and characters which are uniquely primitive among stemgroup tetrapods. This character combination is incongruent. A recently discovered postorbital bone from the site is, strictly speaking, indeterminable but may belong to Ebmpeton; it broadly resembles the postorbitals of Ichthyostegu and Acanthostega, and demonstrates that the typical stem tetrapod facial morphology had evolved before the end of the Frasnian. 0 1998 The Linnean Sociely of London ADDITIONAL

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“…The Tarbat Ness trackway (Fig. 4) is short and lacking in anatomical detail, but shows a typical lateral sequence pattern very similar to the Valentia Slate and Genoa River tracks (Rogers 1990). The tetrapod was apparently walking on a moist, sandy sabkha surface, in a semi-arid landscape with migrating dune fields, about 100 km from the nearest sea (Fig.…”

Section: Tetrapods: Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 97%

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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Probable tetrapod tracks rediscovered in the Devonian of N Scotland

Cited by 24 publications

References 13 publications

Carboniferous tetrapod footprints from the Lublin Basin, SE Poland

Carboniferous tetrapod footprints from the Lublin Basin, SE Poland

Postcranial stem tetrapod remains from the Devonian of Scat Craig, Morayshire, Scotland

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

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