Correction: Journal of Iberian Geology https://doi.org/10.1007/s41513-023-00215-9


The authors recently published in this journal (Mayoral et al., 2023) the description of a new trackway, Aenigmatichnus jumillensis nov. ichnogen. nov. ichnosp. The main characteristic of this ichnotaxon is that it is formed by sets of three tracks or triads, subparallel to each other and arranged in alternating groups whose possible producer is unknown. It could be a giant arthropod, either a hexapod or decapod (less probably an octopod). It was precisely this characteristic that served as the basis for the name Aenigmatichnus, alluding to the lack of knowledge of its producer.


However, we could verify that the name assigned to the trace fossil Aenigmatichnus has already been used in another publication by Zessin (2017) on Cambrian boulders found in 1989 in a gravel pit of the Schwerin Zoo, Mecklenburg, Germany. The original figure by the author was in his private collection. However, it was later handed over to the collection of the Mecklenburg Natural History Society in the Natureum at Ludwigslust Castle. Zessin proposed this name to refer to a trace 4 cm long and 3.2 cm wide, consisting of seven rows of verrucose elevations arranged in rows, which he found in a small piece of rock (4 × 5 × 3 cm).


Nevertheless, we believe such a specimen corresponds not to a true ichnofossil but to an inorganic (sedimentary or physical) structure. In any case and regardless of any interpretation, we must give priority to the term used by Zessin, so we propose to replace our initial denomination for the ichnogenus with the new name Aenigmatipodus, which alludes to the uncertainty about the type of appendage that produced the tracks and their producer. Keeping the ichnospecies (jumillensis, alluding to the locality, Jumilla, where the site is located) unchanged.

2 Ichnotaxonomy


Ichnogenus Aenigmatipodus nov. ichnogen.

2.1 Name derivation


From the Latin aenigma, enigma, a reality that cannot be understood, or that can hardly be understood or interpreted, and from the Greek πόδι, foot, to refer to the appendage that caused the tracks.

The original article has been corrected.