Vertebrate footprints from the Agha Jari Formation (late Miocene-Pliocene), Zagros Mountains, and a review of the Cenozoic vertebrate ichnites in the Persian Gulf region

Abstract

Numerous vertebrate footprints have been found in the Konar Takhteh area (north Bushehr, north Persian Gulf) in the Agha Jari Formation. Mammal footprints are attributed to artiodactyls and have been assigned to Pecoripeda gazella. Avian footprints have been assigned to Koreanaornis hamanensis, and Persiavipes gulfi ichnogen. nov. and ichnosp. nov. Koreanaornis hamanensis has small tetradactyl footprints with slender digit imprints. Persiavipes gulfi has tetradactyl, semipalmate footprints, with distinctive, short interdigital webbing in the three anterior digits. Its backward rim is round, and the digit I imprint is well developed. In addition to the Konar Takhteh tracksite, there are other six tracksites in the Persian Gulf area, from Paleogene and Neogene deposits in Iran, Iraq, Oman, and UAE. These footprints have been attributed to large proboscideans, medium to small artiodactyls and very large to small shore birds. The ichnodiversity from northern regions of the Persian Gulf is higher than from the southern parts. In the same way, the ichnodiversity increases from the interior realm of the Arabian Peninsula to Central Iran, because there are no data about Cenozoic vertebrate ichnites in interior parts of Arabian Peninsula. Ichnodiversity in Central Iran, however, includes 24 ichnotaxa, and it may show higher biodiversity in the central Iranian Plateau relative to adjacent areas. •

New mammal and bird tracks from the Lower Oligocene of the Ebro Basin (NE Spain): implications for the Palaeogene ichnological record

“…Díaz Martínez et al 2020. Besides, the study of ichnites provides information about the morphology of the autopod of the trackmakers and the paleoecological association, allowing to reveal the presence of particular groups of vertebrates in a specific place and/or time (Ellenberger 1980;Bravo Cuevas et al 2018;Neto de Carvalho et al 2020;Abbassi and Dashtban 2021).…”