1,721,074 research outputs found
Verso una possibile integrazione dell'Icnotassonomia nella Sistematica dei vertebrati paleozoici
No full textReliability of digit length impression as a character of tetrapod ichnotaxobase. Considerations from the Carboniferous–Permian ichnogenusIchniotherium
No full textAlthough the relative length of digit impressions is often adopted as a binding character in ichnotaxa discrimination and trackmaker identification, it cannot be considered unequivocally operative. The reliability of this character has been evaluated by means of principal component analysis on several well-preserved footprints (both manus and pes) referred to as Ichniotherium sphaerodactylum from the Early Permian Tambach Formation (Thuringia, Germany). The analysis reveals a substantial variability of digit impression length (especially in the manus), relativizing the validity of digit IV length as a diagnostic character as practised in different ichnological studies. Regarding the use of such a character, results clearly suggest the need to preliminarily conduct explorative analysis on the whole available ichnological material in order to detect which digit is the most consistent from an ichnotaxonomical standpoint, thus avoiding an arbitrary selection. Such a preliminary analysis should provide a better control on ichnotaxonomical splitting/lumping, particularly in the case of allied footprints, and can also be considered a valuable tool, if associated to functionality analysis, in improving and refining trackmaker identificatio
Crouching theropod at the seaside. Matching footprints with metatarsal impressions and theropod authopods: a morphometric approach
No full textWe compare theropod footprints with elongate metatarsal prints from central Italy with
known autopod structures in major theropod groups, in order to more accurately define the trackmaker
attribution. Our work, using morphometric analysis, shows the considerable potential of explorative
methods such as PCA (principal component analysis) and cluster analysis when describing important
characters for a given taxonomic group (body and ichnofossils) and identifying important anatomical
regions. Moreover, the results of the analysis suggest that the putative trackmaker is likely a member
of Ornithomimosauria, with significant affinities in the posterior autopod structure with the genus
Struthiomimus. The fundamental importance of integrating both osteological and ichnological data,
when investigating locomotor and behavioural hypotheses, is highlighted. This approach could also
contribute positively to the complex cognitive process of trackmaker identification and be favourable
for the attainment of a more natural definition of ichnotaxa
The tetrapod ichnoassociation of the Bletterbach (Trentino Alto-Adige) and its place among Late Permian terrestrial ecosystems
Full text linkFil: Bernardi, Massimo. Museo delle Scienze di Trento; ItaliaFil: Petti, Fabio M. Museo delle Scienze di Trento; Italia.Fil: Petti, Fabio M. Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; ItaliaFil: Citton, Paolo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; ArgentinaFil: Citton, Paolo. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología; ArgentinaFil: Citton, Paolo. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro; ArgentinaFil: Romano, Marco. Museum für Naturkunde. Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung; AlemaniaIn this paper we provide an updated review of the tetrapod footprint association discovered in the Bletterbach Gorge (Southern Alps, NE Italy) from the ‘70s. We provide global-scale analysis integrating paleontological and climatic data highlight the importance of the Bletterbach ichnoassociation as key reference for low-latitude terrestrial ecosystems during the Lopingian (Late Permian). Our results provide evidence for a tight correlation between the distribution of the main herbivorous tetrapod clades (dicynodonts, pareiasaurs, captorhinids) and the latitudinal climatic zonation.siIn questo articolo viene proposta un’analisi aggiornata dell’associazione a impronte di tetrapodi rinvenuta a partire dagli anni ’70 del secolo scorso presso la Gola del Bletterbach (Alpi meridionali, Italia nord-orientale) e una sua contestualizzazione su scala globale basata sull’integrazione di dati paleontologici e climatici. Lo studio evidenzia l’importanza dell’associazione a tetrapodi del Bletterbach quale record eccezionale di un ecosistema terrestre di bassa latitudine durante il Lopingiano (Permiano superiore). I risultati dell’analisi a scala ecosistemica forniscono inoltre evidenza di una forte correlazione tra la distribuzione dei principali cladi di tetrapodi erbivori (dicinodonti, pareiasauri, captorinidi) e la zonazione climatica latitudinale
The tetrapod ichnoassociation of the Bletterbach (Trentino Alto-Adige) and its place among Late Permian terrestrial ecosystems
Full text linkFil: Bernardi, Massimo. Museo delle Scienze di Trento; ItaliaFil: Petti, Fabio M. Museo delle Scienze di Trento; Italia.Fil: Petti, Fabio M. Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; ItaliaFil: Citton, Paolo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; ArgentinaFil: Citton, Paolo. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología; ArgentinaFil: Citton, Paolo. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro; ArgentinaFil: Romano, Marco. Museum für Naturkunde. Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung; AlemaniaIn this paper we provide an updated review of the tetrapod footprint association discovered in the Bletterbach Gorge (Southern Alps, NE Italy) from the ‘70s. We provide global-scale analysis integrating paleontological and climatic data highlight the importance of the Bletterbach ichnoassociation as key reference for low-latitude terrestrial ecosystems during the Lopingian (Late Permian). Our results provide evidence for a tight correlation between the distribution of the main herbivorous tetrapod clades (dicynodonts, pareiasaurs, captorhinids) and the latitudinal climatic zonation.In questo articolo viene proposta un’analisi aggiornata dell’associazione a impronte di tetrapodi rinvenuta a partire dagli anni ’70 del secolo scorso presso la Gola del Bletterbach (Alpi meridionali, Italia nord-orientale) e una sua contestualizzazione su scala globale basata sull’integrazione di dati paleontologici e climatici. Lo studio evidenzia l’importanza dell’associazione a tetrapodi del Bletterbach quale record eccezionale di un ecosistema terrestre di bassa latitudine durante il Lopingiano (Permiano superiore). I risultati dell’analisi a scala ecosistemica forniscono inoltre evidenza di una forte correlazione tra la distribuzione dei principali cladi di tetrapodi erbivori (dicinodonti, pareiasauri, captorinidi) e la zonazione climatica latitudinale
Sometimes They Come Back: Recovery and Reinterpretation of a Trackway Slab from the Permian Coconino Sandstone of the Southwestern United States
No full textWhen a fossil vanishes to a private collection, it must be considered lost to science because, frequently, it is no longer available for study. Fortunately some fossils occasionally are regained. We had the opportunity to recoup an interesting footprint-bearing slab that was part of a private collection in Italy. The specimen, found in 1992 near Seligman, Arizona (USA) was described, before disappearing, as one of the best fossil examples of vertebrate (Chelichnus [Laoporus])-on-invertebrate (Octopodichnus) predation. After a careful re-examination of the slab, the primary conclusions of the former describers are demonstrably groundless. The reanalysis of the tracks, as well as peculiar sedimentary structures associated with the tracks, allowed obtaining new information about the depositional environment and the complex interactions between the type of substrate and trackmaker behavior. The re-examination of the specimen also revealed interesting aspects about trackmaker biomechanics
Updating and reinterpreting the dinosaur track record of Italy
No full textThe recently discovered, and unexpectedly rich, dinosaurian ichnological record of Italy, has proven to be integral
to the paleogeographic understanding of the peri-Mediterranean area, and is updated and refined herein.
Through analysis of the stratigraphic, spatial, and geodynamic contexts of the entirety of the current ichnological
dataset, three distinct associations are recognized (Late Triassic–Early Jurassic, Late Tithonian–Late Cenomanian
and Coniacian–Maastrichtian). While the first and last associations can be largely encompassed by pre-existing
models, the Late Tithonian–Late Cenomanian assemblage requires further investigation. To account for the
spatio-temporal distribution of the ichnological evidence a model that invokes repeated dinosaur migrations
from Africa to the Southern Italian Carbonate Platforms up to the Late Cenomanian is needed. At the end of
this time interval a still-poorly-known, extensional tectonic phase broke up Adria causing the last dinosaur occurrence
locally and requiring a re-evaluation of the geodynamic models for this region
A review of the concepts of ‘axony’ and their bearing on tetrapod ichnology
Full text linkTwo meanings of the term axony are found in the ichnological literature. Multiple meanings may prove to be a double-edge sword, complicating scientific communication. In vertebrate ichnology the first meaning of axony relies on aspects of locomotion related to the body weight support and propulsive thrust. A second one concerns axony as a purely geometric and dimensional descriptor. These approaches are based on a static view of the impression process, implying the loss of much important information. Here we report an analysis of shallowly impressed footprints referred to the ichnotaxa Ichniotherium sphaerodactylum and Dimetropus osageorum. The analysis was carried out by considering the track registration as a dynamic process and attempting to identify and describe axony conditions during movements. Variations in the axony conditions can be understood in the light of the producer’s foot anatomy and the reciprocal relations between foot bone elements. The concept of axony can be a useful tool in ichnological practice only when it is related to the complex dynamic of locomotion and the resulting track registration. It can help in restoring the interconnections between track and trackmaker, re-establishing the biological significance of tetrapod footprints.Fil: Romano, Marco. University of the Witwatersrand; SudáfricaFil: Citton, Paolo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología; Argentin
Tetrapod ichnology in Italy: the state of the art Guest editorial
Full text linkThis year, 2020, marks the 150th anniversary of the seminal work by Giulio Curioni (1870), representing the first published scientific contribution on tetrapod footprints from Italy. We took this opportunity to discuss the current state of the art on tetrapod ichnology in our country, with a jubilee volume, titled “Tetrapod ichnology in Italy: the state of the art”. The volume involves the scholars who first pioneered this discipline in Italy in the seventies of the last century, along with all the authors who have worked on the topic in recent decades, and younger generations who have just started to enthusiastically contribute to vertebrate ichnology. After briefly introducing the idea at the base of the Special Volume, as well as some aspects of the discipline and the current methodologies involved in ichnological studies, we present each of the contributions to serve the Italian ichnological heritage.Fil: Romano, Marco. Università di Roma; ItaliaFil: Citton, Paolo. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Sede Alto Valle. Instituto de Investigaciones en Paleobiología y Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin
First report of Sclerobiont Bryozoans in the Maiolica Fm. of the Umbria-Marche Basin (Northern Apennines, Italy)
No full textWe describe the first evidence of sclerobiont bryozoans found loose in the pelagic Maiolica Fm. of the Umbria-Marche Basin (Monte Acuto Massif, Northern Apennines, Italy). The material is represented by three small sub-circular colonies with tube-shaped zooecia radially developing from the centre. These characters are not enough for generic or specific classification, consequently, these cyclostomes have been only identified as belonging to the Suborder Tubuliporina. Calpionellid assemblages allow to constrain the bryozoan-bearing rock sample to the early Berriasian. The occurrence of isolated bryozoans in the Maiolica Fm. enriches the knowledge about the fauna of this unit in pure basinal settings, composed by radiolarians, calpionellids, dinoflagellate cysts and rare macrofossils (ammonites and aptychi), including very rare benthic organisms (gastropods, brachiopods and bivalves). Up to date, no sclerobiont organisms in 'normal' pelagic Maiolica facies were known, due to the lack of suitable substrates to be colonised. Encrustation of a planktonic or nektonic hard-shelled organism seems the most parsimonious hypothesis based on our material
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