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Swimming reptile prints from the Keuper facies (Carnian, Upper Triassic) of Los Gallegos new tracksite (Iberian Range, Valencia province, Spain)

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Abstract

A new locality of Carnian reptile tracks (Upper Triassic) is described from the Manuel Sandstone Formation (Keuper facies). The track-bearing layer is located in the Los Gallegos creek (municipality of Cortes de Pallás, Valencia province) and the prints are preserved as natural casts. The tracks are isolated and, although there are certain alignments, these do not constitute trackways. Most of the prints are made up of sub-parallel digital marks. The number of digits and their size is variable, being tetradactyl the most complete ones. In some cases, the heel area has been preserved, although the impression of the V toe has never been so. No handprints have been found either. This preservation does not allow precise identification, although general characters as well as age suggest that these tracks may be related to the chirotheroid group and therefore, with archosauriform or archosaur crurotarsal reptiles. The characteristics of sediment, footprints and the presence of structures such as digit reflectures, Z-traces, posterior overhangs and longitudinal striations suggest that the ichnites were produced by swimming, totally or partially buoyant reptiles in a context dominated by a fluvial system with restricted marine influence during the Carnian Humid Episode.

Resumen

Se describe un nuevo yacimiento de huellas de reptiles de edad Carniense (Triásico Superior), pertenecientes a la formación Areniscas de Manuel (Facies Keuper). Las capas que contienen las icnitas, preservadas como moldes, afloran en el margen de la rambla de Los Gallegos (municipio de Cortes de Pallás, provincia de Valencia). A pesar de apreciarse una vaga alineación entre algunas huellas, estas no se agrupan formando rastros. La mayoría de las icnitas consisten en marcas digitales subparalelas. El número de impresiones digitales registradas en cada huella y sus dimensiones son variables, si bien las más completas son tetradáctilas. En algunos casos se ha preservado la impresión del talón, aunque en estos casos no existe registro del dedo V. No se ha podido identificar ninguna marca de mano. El tipo de preservación observada no permite una identificación precisa, si bien los rasgos generales y la edad asignada a este yacimiento sugieren que los productores podrían estar relacionados con el grupo quiroteroide y, por tanto, con reptiles arcosauriformes o arcosaurios crurotarsales. Las características del sustrato, de las icnitas y la presencia de ciertos rasgos característicos como flexuras digitales, trazas digitales en Z, proyecciones digitales posteriores y estrías longitudinales sugieren que las huellas fueron producidas por reptiles que se desplazaban en un régimen de natación o semi-natación en un medio fluvial con cierta influencia marina durante el Episodio Húmedo del Carniense.

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Fig. 1

Modified from Lendínez and Tena Dávila (1980)

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Acknowledgements

We thank Armand Pascual Roldán, who took the detailed pictures of the tracks and helped in computing the 3-D model of sector A. Charles Colón, who reviewed the English version of the text, is also thanked. We are also grateful to the two referees, Matías Reolid and Alberto Pérez López, whose suggestions have greatly improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Penó de la Conquesta, 10, 46920, Mislata, Valencia, Spain

    Óscar Navarro

  2. Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME), Museo Geominero, Ríos Rosas, 23, 28003, Madrid, Spain

    Jose J. Moratalla

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  1. Óscar Navarro
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  2. Jose J. Moratalla
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Correspondence to Óscar Navarro.

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This paper is dedicated to the memory of Agustina Carrasco, dearest mother, who passed prematurely away before the publication of this work.

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Supplementary material 1 (PDF 7714 kb) Online resource 1. Annotated sketches of sector A showing the code assigned to the studied specimens

41513_2018_68_MOESM2_ESM.zip

Supplementary material 2 (ZIP 15611 kb) Online resource 2. PLY files containing the 3D models of the specimens in sector A

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Navarro, Ó., Moratalla, J.J. Swimming reptile prints from the Keuper facies (Carnian, Upper Triassic) of Los Gallegos new tracksite (Iberian Range, Valencia province, Spain). J Iber Geol 44, 479–496 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41513-018-0068-0

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