The first record of xiphosurid (arthropod) trackways from the Saltwick Formation, Middle Jurassic of the Cleveland Basin, Yorkshire

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Trackways attributed to a xiphosurid (arthropod) maker are described for the ®rst time from the Middle Jurassic Saltwick Formation, Ravenscar Group, of the Cleveland Basin, Yorkshire. The trackways are assigned to Kouphichnium aff. variabilis (Linck, 1949) and clearly demonstrate the heteropody and varied behaviour of the maker. Their occasional asymmetry indicates a slight rotation of the body relative to the direction of locomotion. The Saltwick Formation has generally been regarded as a coastal plain deposit, and the presence of xiphosurid tracks reinforces the suggestions of periodic marine in¯uences.

Gigantism among Late Jurassic limulids: New ichnological evidence from the Causses Basin (Lozère, France) and comments on body-size evolution among horseshoe crabs

“…However, pending a comprehensive taxonomic revision of limulid traces and of the numerous species of Kouphichnium, we refrain ourselves from assigning our material to an ichnospecies and refer it to Kouphichnium isp. We agree with many other authors who suggested a whole revision of this ichnogenus and its ichnospecies (e.g., Buatois et al, 1998;Romano and Whyte, 2003;Lucas et al, 2006;Lucas and Lerner, 2005;Gaillard, 2011;Fernández and Pazos, 2013). Fig.…”

“…For example, Caster (1938) and Gaillard (2011) observed that modern horseshoe crabs produce such trackways while speeding up their demersal swimming or walking. During propulsion, the anterior appendages are retracted, the body weight is supported by the pusher limbs whose imprints are generally sharp and can even be made by the four anterior blades only (Lessertisseur, 1955;Tyler, 1988;Romano and Whyte, 2003). Such a pattern is consistent with the trackways and isolated tracks from the Hures-la-Parade quarry: pusher imprints predominate, their posterior part is not recorded in 26% of cases, and they are rarely associated with imprints of other walking legs.…”

“…The ichnogenus Kouphichnium was reported both from non-marine and freshwater palaeoenvironments (Hardy, 1970;Hasiotis and Dubiel, 1993;Hasiotis, 2004;Pieńkowski and Niedźwiedzki, 2009), ephemeral freshwater lakes (Pollard and Hardy, 1991;Zhang et al, 1998;Lucas et al, 2006), lagoons (Gaillard, 2011;Peyre de Fabrègues and Allain, 2013), estuaries (Lucas and Lerner, 2005), tidal flat areas (Gastaldo et al, 1989;Harris and Lacovara, 2004;Diedrich, 2011;Fernández and Pazos, 2013), and coastal plains (Romano and Whyte, 2003).…”

A giant limulid trackway (Kouphichnium lithographicum) from the lithographic limestones of Cerin (Late Kimmeridgian, France): ethological and environmental implications

“…Goldring and Seilacher (1971) consider that limulid trackways are commonly made of undertracks. The presence of undertracks is not so easy to prove as noted by Romano and Whyte (2003) and no evidence of such tracks has been found when studying the trackway. Moreover, the presence of surface tracks is likely in the studied case because the calcareous mud of the Cerin lagoon was commonly covered by a microbial mat providing a cohesive substrate.…”

“…Kouphichnium variabilis (Linck 1949) is a complex, variably defined ichnospecies (Romano and Whyte 2003) and Kouphichnium rossendalensis Hardy 1970 is a succession of resting traces now related to the ichnogenus Selenichnites Whyte 1987, 1990). Other ichnospecies such as K. didactylus (Willard 1935), K. arizonae Caster 1944, K. gracilis (Linck 1949), and K. cordiformis Fischer 1978 are also quite different.…”