Tetrapod tracks in a marginal lacustrine setting (Middle Triassic, Argentina): Taphonomy and significance

Marsicano, Claudia Alicia; Mancuso, Adriana Cecilia; Palma, Ricardo Manuel; Krapovickas, Verónica

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.03.009

Cited by 30 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…More compelling is the evidence of dicynodont herds in the Los Rastros Formation (Marsicano et al . ) and of gregarious behaviour recently proposed for Dinodontosaurus from the Brazilian Santa Maria Formation (de Oliveira Bueno et al . ; de Oliveira Bueno ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Fossils from the Los Rastros Formation include plants, insects, fishes and temnospondyl amphibians as well as fossil tracks representing two sizes of dinosauromorphs and herds of dicynodonts (Marsicano et al . , ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is evidence of gregarious behaviour in Permian dicynodonts such as Diictodon (King 1990;Ray & Chinsamy 2003). More compelling is the evidence of dicynodont herds in the Los Rastros Formation (Marsicano et al 2010) and of gregarious behaviour recently proposed for Dinodontosaurus from the Brazilian Santa Maria Formation (de Oliveira Bueno et al 2011;de Oliveira Bueno 2012). Considering this subsidiary evidence, we propose that the Dinodontosaurus from Chañares were also gregarious.…”

Section: The Chañares Tetrapod Communitymentioning

confidence: 98%

“…dicynodonts and paracrocodylomorphs) have as yet been registered in the mass mortality record, but they are represented in the attritional levels. In addition, an ichnological record of large taxa was reported from the immediately overlying levels of the Los Rastros Formation (Marsicano et al 2010). The low abundance of dicynodonts in the mass mortality assemblage, when compared to the almost even ratio of Dinodontosaurus/Massetognathus remains in the attritional levels, is remarkable.…”

Section: The Chañares Tetrapod Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is justified because the two formations have a transitional relationship with each other within the same depositional system, the difference between them being lithostratigraphical (Mancuso & Marsicano 2008;Mancuso & Caselli 2012). Fossils from the Los Rastros Formation include plants, insects, fishes and temnospondyl amphibians as well as fossil tracks representing two sizes of dinosauromorphs and herds of dicynodonts (Marsicano et al 2007(Marsicano et al , 2010.…”

Section: Trophic Chain In the Chañares-los Rastros Assemblagementioning

confidence: 99%

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The Chañares Formation: a window to a Middle Triassic tetrapod community

Mancuso

Gaetano

Leardi

et al. 2014

LET

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The Chañares Formation is known worldwide for its diverse and well‐preserved Ladinian non‐marine tetrapod assemblage, including a wide variety of archosauriform reptiles (proterochampsids, early offshoots of the crocodilian line and dinosaurian precursors) and synapsids represented by dicynodonts and cynodonts. This tetrapod record offers an opportunity to evaluate, within a taphonomic context, the palaeoecology of this Middle Triassic fauna. The taphonomic analysis of the Chañares assemblage, under precise stratigraphical control, indicates that it is a good representation of the original faunal composition allowing us to address the palaeoecological interactions between its components. Mass estimations and morphology‐based palaeobiological inferences of Chañares tetrapods are used to reconstruct the trophic structure of the community. Chañares tetrapod fauna was numerically dominated by middle‐sized herbivorous and small faunivorous cynodonts, whereas middle‐sized faunivorous cynodonts and large dicynodonts were less common. In contrast to the therapsids, which show a low species‐richness and high abundance, the archosauriforms are less abundant, but are the most taxonomically diverse group. The large paracrocodylomorphs (estimated body masses between 350 and 500 kg) are identified as the top predators of the community, and the traversodontid cynodonts and dicynodonts (estimated body masses reaching approximately 43 and 360 kg, respectively) are indentified as the base herbivores of the trophic pyramid. We conclude that the worldwide faunal composition in the Ladinian reveals two continental assemblages: an eastern Laurasian assemblage dominated by temnospondyl amphibians; and a western Gondwanan assemblage dominated by therapsids but including a wide diversity of archosauriforms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%