The Gerola Valley site (Orobic Basin, Northern Italy): A key for understanding late Early Permian tetrapod ichnofaunas

Marchetti, Lorenzo; Ronchi, Ausonio; Santi, Giuseppe; Voigt, Sebastian

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.02.032

Cited by 42 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Smaller reptile footprints arranged in trackways were attributed to Erpetopus by Marchetti et al . (). The trackways do not show preferential orientation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; Marchetti et al . ). The Pizzo del Diavolo formation is dated late Early Permian (Cisuralian) to early Middle Permian (Guadalupian) by radiometric ages on the underlying Vulcanite del Cabianca (Berra et al .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…), while the tetrapod ichnoassociation, recently revised by Marchetti et al . (, ) and Marchetti (), is most probably Late Cisuralian (Kungurian) in age. The environment related to this stratigraphic level was interpreted as a distal fan to sandflat in a semi‐arid setting (arenitic–pelitic facies association sensu Marchetti et al .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The environment related to this stratigraphic level was interpreted as a distal fan to sandflat in a semi‐arid setting (arenitic–pelitic facies association sensu Marchetti et al . ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The diagnostic morphology, the locomotion patterns and related parameters are well known, especially from specimens found in the Early Permian of Germany and Italy (Haubold ; Voigt , ; Marchetti et al . ,b). However, even for this ichnogenus, important locomotion‐related features such as continuous tail impression and digit scratches are rare and seldom studied (but see Voigt ; Van Allen et al .…”

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confidence: 99%

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An unusual Amphisauropus trackway and its implication for understanding seymouriamorph locomotion

Marchetti

Mujal

Bernardi

2017

LET

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Vertebrate ichnology has proved to be a valuable tool for reconstructing tetrapod locomotion. Grounding on 1, the discovery of a new, exceptionally preserved Amphisauropus trackway (Permian Orobic Basin, Northern Italy), showing continuous tail and pedal scratch impressions; and 2, a comparative analysis of track and bony records, we provide a first synapomorphy‐based attribution of Amphisauropus tracks to their most plausible producers, seymouriamorph reptiliomorphs, and propose a detailed reconstruction of the locomotion biomechanics in this group. The markedly sinuous and continuous tail impression with a relatively constant width, the curve arrangement of pedal scratches and the inferred position of head, trunk and tail during the locomotion suggest large lateral movements, while vertical movements were nearly absent, consistently with a primitive sprawling gait. We also document the functional prevalence of the hindlimbs and provide a detailed description of femur biomechanics during step cycle. Trackway parameters suggest that the speed was quite slow: a comparison with a large database of Amphisauropus trackways from Italy and Germany proves that this peculiar preservation was gait‐ and substrate‐related, rather than trackmaker‐related. In all, this study sheds light on the locomotion of Seymouriamorpha and aimed to contribute to a full integration of track and skeletal data in exploring locomotory biomechanics of extinct tetrapods.

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“…Smaller reptile footprints arranged in trackways were attributed to Erpetopus by Marchetti et al . (). The trackways do not show preferential orientation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The environment related to this stratigraphic level was interpreted as a distal fan to sandflat in a semi‐arid setting (arenitic–pelitic facies association sensu Marchetti et al . ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

An unusual Amphisauropus trackway and its implication for understanding seymouriamorph locomotion

Marchetti

Mujal

Bernardi

2017

LET

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First tetrapod footprints from the Permian of Sardinia and their palaeontological and stratigraphical significance

Citton

Ronchi

Maganuco³

et al. 2018

Geological Journal

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The Torre del Porticciolo palaeontological locality (Alghero, north‐west Sardinia, Italy) is important for having provided the skeletal remains of the first Permian basal synapsid from Italy, Alierasaurus ronchii, the largest late early Permian to early middle Permian non‐therapsid synapsid known to date. Recently, other skeletal remains preliminarily attributed to a carnivorous non‐therapsid synapsid were described from a second site, approximately from the same stratigraphic level within the Cala del Vino Fm. During the excavation of this second site, tetrapod tracks were found near Cala Viola, about 1 km from the first two sites. The new find represents the first ichnological record from the Permian of Sardinia. The ichnological analysis allowed the recognition of tetrapods presently not recognized, just on the base of skeletal remains. This new evidence sheds more light on the faunal diversity within the Cala del Vino Fm., which is one of the few examples in the Permian of Europe of a combined ichno‐ and body‐fossil record. The tracks have been referred to as Merifontichnus, an ichnotaxon established from the uppermost portion of the Permian succession of the Lodève Basin in southern France. The new material is the first reliable occurrence of this ichnotaxon from Italy and would represent, to date, the oldest occurrence of the ichnogenus.

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New occurrences of tetrapod ichnotaxa from the Permian Orobic Basin (Northern Italy) and critical discussion of the age of the ichnoassociation

Marchetti

2016

Papers in Palaeontology

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Abstract:The late Cisuralian (Artinskian-Kungurian) is a key time interval for Permian tetrapod evolution. In all the main low-latitude Pangean sites, the fossil footprint record clearly shows a diversification and dispersal of non-synapsid amniote tracks compared to the early Cisuralian (AsselianSakmarian). However, data on latest Cisuralian (i.e. late Kungurian) sites are quite fragmentary. A new ichnotaxonomic study was carried out in the central part of the Orobic Basin, where the highly-fossiliferous Pizzo del Diavolo formation crops out and can potentially cover this gap in knowledge. The following tetrapod ichnogenera were identified: Amphisauropus, Batrachichnus, cf. Dimetropus, Dromopus, Erpetopus, Hyloidichnus, Limnopus, cf. Merifontichnus and Varanopus; they can be attributed to seymouriamorph and temnospondyl amphibians; pelycosaur synapsids; and diapsid, parareptile and captorhinid reptiles. Dimetropus and Merifontichnus are identified for the first time in the Permian of Italy. The ichnoassociation, in agreement with the radiometric dating of the underlying Cabianca formation, suggests a late Kungurian (latest Cisuralian) age for the Pizzo del Diavolo formation. It includes the youngest and most diverse non-synapsid amniote ichnofauna of the Cisuralian with five different ichnogenera and possibly six ichnospecies, and thus constitutes a key area for the study of eureptile and parareptile dispersal at low latitudes of Pangaea in the time span that immediately pre-dates the first therapsid synapsid radiation.

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The Gerola Valley site (Orobic Basin, Northern Italy): A key for understanding late Early Permian tetrapod ichnofaunas

Cited by 42 publications

References 57 publications

An unusual Amphisauropus trackway and its implication for understanding seymouriamorph locomotion

An unusual Amphisauropus trackway and its implication for understanding seymouriamorph locomotion

First tetrapod footprints from the Permian of Sardinia and their palaeontological and stratigraphical significance

New occurrences of tetrapod ichnotaxa from the Permian Orobic Basin (Northern Italy) and critical discussion of the age of the ichnoassociation

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