First Report On Reptile Tracks From The Moenkopi Formation (Lower-Middle Triassic) In Dinosaur National Monument, Utah
- ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Andrew B. Heckert Ph.D., Professor (Creator)
- Institution
- Appalachian State University (ASU )
- Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/
Abstract: On the Colorado Plateau, numerous Mesozoic stratigraphic units, including the Navajo and Entrada formations, preserve abundant tracks that contrast with their extremely poor body fossil records. This is also true of the Moenkopi Formation, which also preserves abundant tracks attributed to reptiles. Here we report the first occurrence of tetrapod tracks from the Moenkopi Formation in Dinosaur National Monument in northeastern Utah. The Moenkopi Formation in this area can be divided into four informal “members” with all of the currently known tracksites in Dinosaur National Monument occurring low within the third member. Tracks consist of both footprints and swim tracks and are preserved in the “racetrack” exposures in the western portion of the monument. These traces show morphological characteristics suggesting they were produced under a variety of conditions ranging from subaqueous to subaerial. Footprints are chirotheriid in overall morphology with some resemblance to Protochirotherium and Synaptichnium. Due to the relative paucity of skeletal remains from the Moenkopi Formation these and other tracks from this unit provide important information about the paleoecology of Early-Middle Triassic reptiles.
First Report On Reptile Tracks From The Moenkopi Formation (Lower-Middle Triassic) In Dinosaur National Monument, Utah
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Heckert, A. B.; Thomson, T. J.; Chure, D. J. (2014) First Report On Reptile Tracks From The Moenkopi Formation (Lower-Middle Triassic) In Dinosaur National Monument, Utah NMMNHS Bulletin 62 (ISSN 1524-4156) Archived in NC DOCKS with permission of the editor. The version of record is available at: http://econtent.unm.edu/
- Language: English
- Date: 2014