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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

A vertebrate trackway from the Twyfelfontein Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Damaraland, Namibia

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Author(s):
Porchetti, Simone D'Orazi [1] ; Wagensommer, Alexander
Total Authors: 2
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Biol, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, BR-14040901 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 1
Document type: Journal article
Source: PALAEONTOLOGISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT; v. 89, n. 4, p. 807-814, DEC 2015.
Web of Science Citations: 6
Abstract

A trackway of 22 footprints is the first definite evidence of vertebrate life from the Main Aeolian Unit of the Twyfelfontein Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Kunene region, Northwestern Namibia. Footprints were left on the lee slope of an ancient dune in a hyper-arid, erg-dominated paleo environment. The new material is reminiscent of the Mesozoic ichnotaxon Brasilichnium, which is exclusively found on the slip face of sand dunes, from both South and North America. The Twyfelfontein Formation is considered a lateral equivalent of the Brazilian Botucatu Formation in which Brasilichnium is a common trace fossil, but correlation was formerly based exclusively on sedimentologic and lithostratigraphic homologies. Aside from being the first vertebrate evidence from the Cretaceous of Namibia, and possibly the first African Brasilichnium, this new find enforces the correlation between the Botucatu and the Twyfelfontein formations. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 13/01930-1 - DUNE'S LIFE: THE TRACK RECORD OF A MESOZOIC WARM DESERT - Ichnological analysis of the Botucatu Formation in São Paulo and comparison with other Mesozoic ichnofaunas from similar environmental settings, with emphasis on the record of derived synapsids
Grantee:Simone D'Orazi Porchetti
Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral