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

Autor(es)

Porchetti, Simone D'Orazi ^[1] ; Wagensommer, Alexander

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Biol, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, BR-14040901 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: PALAEONTOLOGISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT; v. 89, n. 4, p. 807-814, DEC 2015.
• Citações Web of Science: 6

Resumo

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)

• Processo FAPESP: 13/01930-1 - VIDA NAS DUNAS: O REGISTRO DE PEGADAS DE UM DESERTO MESOZÓICO QUENTE - Análise icnológica da Formação Botucatu em São Paulo e comparações com outras icnofaunas mesozóicas de paleoambientes similares, com ênfase para o registro de sinápsidos apicais
• Beneficiário: Simone D'Orazi Porchetti
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado