Search

We describe a new and unusual vertebrate trackway from the Middle Jurassic Scalby Formation of the Cleveland Basin, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. The Enigmatic Burniston Trackway (EBT) is the first and only example of such a trackway known from this region. The best preserved EBT print, belonging to a pentadactyl tetrapod, does not resemble any known Middle Jurassic ichnogenus, but shares features with Triassic and Cretaceous archosaur and synapsid ichnotaxa. EBT most closely resembles the Triassic ichnogenus Synaptichnium in having the longest digit III, shortest digits I and V, and digit V positioned posterior to the other digits. Synaptichnium has been assigned to various trackmakers, including crocodylomorphs, and early archosaurs ('thecodonts' and aetosaurs). However, the anteriorly oriented digits and reduced and posterolaterally placed digit V of EBT also resemble Sederipes from the Cretaceous, and Dicynodontipus from the Permian-Triassic (both representing large-bodied synapsid or 'mammal' trackmakers). Unlike most traces assigned to cynodont (including mammalian) or crocodylomorph makers, EBT has low total digit divergence. Digit imprints end in short claws and the pes is rotated by ∼20° outwards in relation to the manus. Preservation is fragmentary for most of the trackway and the specimen could not be collected, but we record it here and provide comparative context within the existing ichnofossil record. We discuss the issues regarding 'mammal' ichnofossil literature, including taxonomic nomenclature, inconsistent diagnostic criteria, and assumptions made previously about Mesozoic synapsid body mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the Hebrides and Cleveland basins being geographically close, research has not previously been carried out to determine faunal similarities and assess the possibility of links between the dinosaur populations. The palaeogeography of both areas during the Middle Jurassic shows that there were no elevated landmasses being eroded to produce conglomeratic material in the basins at that time. The low-lying landscape and connected shorelines may have provided connectivity between the two dinosaur populations. The dinosaur fauna of the Hebrides and Cleveland basins has been assessed based primarily on the abundant ichnites found in both areas as well as their skeletal remains. In the two basins, the dinosaur faunas are very similar, consisting of non-neosauropod eusauropods, a possible basal titanosauriform, large and small theropods and ornithopods and europodan thyreophorans. The main difference in the faunas is in the sizes. In the Cleveland Basin, the ichnites suggest that there were medium and large theropods alongside small to medium sized ornithopods, whereas, in the Hebrides Basin, the theropods were from small to large and the ornithopods were medium to large. It is suggested that migrations could have taken place between the two areas during the Middle Jurassic. A tentative food chain from the herbivorous dinosaurs to the top predators can be inferred from the footprints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trackways attributed to a xiphosurid arthropod) maker are described for the first time from the Middle Jurassic Saltwick Formation, Ravenscar Group, of the Cleveland Basin, Yorkshire. The trackways are assigned to Kouphichnium afl. 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 influences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the study of trace fossils or hieroglyphs in rocks, as an important branch of paleontology. Interpreting the former behavioral activity of extinct organisms; Uses of hieroglyph studies in sedimentological, stratigraphical and paleogeographical studies.

At least four parallel trackways of medium-sized and robust ornithopods are described from the Upper Jurassic Tereñes tracksite in Asturias (N. Spain). While the tracks and trackways of small and gracile ornithopods are common in the Jurassic record, large ornithopods are very rare in this period. Ornithopod gregarious behavior has been recorded from many Cretaceous ichnoassemblages, but there are few examples from the Jurassic, and these always relate to small individuals. The Asturian tracks are quite different from known ichnogenera, but they are not sufficiently well preserved to propose a new one. Medium-large Jurassic ornithopods with robust feet such asDraconyxorCumnoriaare the best candidates to be the trackmakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new record of a sauropodomorph dinosaur is here described from the Middle Jurassic (Aalenian) Saltwick Formation of Whitby (Yorkshire), UK. A single caudal vertebra represents an early sauropodomorph and signifies the earliest recognised eusauropod dinosaur from the United Kingdom. The absence of pleurocoels and a narrow, dorsoventrally deep, but craniocaudally short centrum, suggests a primitive sauropodomorph. Distinct spinopostzygopophyseal laminae rise from the lateral margins of the postzygapophyses and pass caudally along what remains of the neural spine, a character unique to a subgroup of sauropods that includes Barapasaurus, Omeisaurus and other neosauropods and eusauropods. The lack of phylogenetically robust characters in sauropod caudal vertebrae usually makes it difficult to establish affinities, but the absence of mild procoely excludes this specimen from both Diplodocoidea and Lithostrotia. The vertebra cannot be further distinguished from those of a wide range of basal sauropods, cetiosaurids and basal macronarians. However, this plesiomorphic vertebra still signifies the earliest stratigraphic occurrence for a British sauropod dinosaur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The laboratory-controlled simulations of dinosaur footprints in this study revealed characteristic track features that could be used to identify the consistency of sand substrates and provide an insight into the paleoenvironment. A model foot of Hypsilophodon foxii was indented into three sands of four different moisture (= water) contents. The two intermediate moist states were characterized by shallow tridactyl impressions, in which only digits II-IV were impressed, showing details of padding and claws. Where the foot penetrated more deeply, in the dry and saturated states, the hallux and heel were also impressed; in these cases, the foot detail was not preserved accurately and track morphology deviated significantly from that of the foot. Dry sand tracks were characterized by the outward and upward movement of sediment and tracks in saturated sand by mainly downward displacement. The finer-grained saturated sand was also associated with liquefaction and closure of digit imprints. Tracks from the Middle Jurassic Cleveland Basin of Yorkshire showed features of the saturated state. The range of experimental track morphotypes formed by one foot highlighted the difficulties in assigning a print type to a particular trackmaker and the importance of excluding preservational variants from ichnotaxonomic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]