Lavinipes CheminiiIchnogen., Ichnosp. nov., A Possible Sauropodomorph Track from the Lower Jurassic of the Italian Alps

Abstract

A new ichnotaxon is described from the Lower Jurassic (Upper Hettangian-Lower Sinemurian) carbonate tidal flats on the central-eastern Italian Alps. The narrow-gauge trackway is that of a large quadrupedal dinosaur. The pes is functionally tetradactyl with three rounded antero-medially directed digits, and the manus is pentadactyl. This quadrupedal form is close to Otozoum and Pseudotetrasauropus jaquesi both traditionally related to sauropodomorph trackmakers. The similarity with Otozoum is so marked that Lavinipes and Otozoum could be cogeneric. But the overall evidence today is that the Otozoum trackmaker was generally bipedal, whereas the trackmaker of L. cheminii is fully quadrupedal. The manual prints of L. cheminii show five short clawless digits and are different from the tetradactyl slender toed manual prints of Otozoum. The possible sauropodomorph affinity of the L. cheminii trackmaker is here discussed with an attempt to a revision of the Late Triassic-Jurassic tracks which have been traditionally related to sauropod and prosauropod.

Re-Examination of Some Large Early Mesozoic Tetrapod Footprints from the African Collection of Paul Ellenberger

“…In L. cheminii digit I is less close Downloaded by [University of Colorado -Health Science Library] at 10:56 17 November 2014 to digit II than in T. unguiferus. As in Pseudotetrasauropus jaquesi, L. cheminii is similar to Tetrasauropus unguiferus in the manus position (external and anterior to the pes), while L. cheminii shows digits with blunt extremities and the shape of its manus is remarkably sauropodan (Avanzini et al, 2003).…”

“…From Lower Jurassic strata of northern Italy comes Lavinipes cheminii Avanzini, Leonardi and Mietto 2003, whose characters compare with those of Tetrasauropus unguiferus. The manus of L. cheminii looks like that of P. jaquesi.…”

Sauropod trackways of the Iberian Peninsula: palaeoetological and palaeoenvironmental implications

“…Sauropodomorph ichnotypes can be subdivided into five categories, which are associated with different trackmakers (Avanzini et al, 2003;Santos et al, 2009): these include Polyonyx-like, which are associated with non-neosauropod eusauropods (Santos et al, 2009); Parabrontopodus-like/ Breviparopus-like, associated with mainly diplodocid neosauropods; and Brontopodus-like, associated with titanosauriforms (Lockley et al, 1994b;Wilson and Carrano, 1999;Wright, 2005;Marty et al, 2010). Among the sauropod ichnotypes in the global track record (Fig.…”

A new sauropodomorph ichnogenus from the Lower Jurassic of Sichuan, China fills a gap in the track record

“…Also, in Otozoum, it is positioned laterally rather than anteriorly to the pes. Avanzini et al (2003) claimed that Lavinipes was very similar to Otozoum, except that it evidently represented a fully quadrupedal trackmaker. In this regard, Liujianpus is closer to Lavinipes in representing a quadruped with a manus larger than in Otozoum.…”

“…Although they synonymised many of the southern African ichnogenera with North American ichnotaxa, Otozoum and Pseudotetrasauropus are now considered distinct (Lockley and Meyer 2000;Rainforth 2003; D'Orazi Porchetti and Nicosia 2004;Lockley et al 2006a;Gierliński, 2009 At present, the plexus of tracks attributed to basal sauropodomorphs includes Otozoum, Pseudotetrasauropus, Evazoum and Kalosauropus and has been dubbed the OPEK plexus (Lockley et al 2006a), which belongs to the ichnofamily Otozoidae (Lockley et al 2006a;Lockley and Lucas 2013). Lavinipes cheminii described by Avanzini et al (2003) could probably also be assigned to this plexus since it is generally similar to Otozoum, although not preserved with sufficient detail to show the complex pads so characteristic of Otozoum. The former two OPEK plexus ichnogenera (Otozoum and Pseudotetrasauropus) are based on large type specimens, and include large robust forms that represent quadrupedal as well as bipedal trackmakers.…”