Reptile tracks (Rotodactylus) from the Middle Triassic of the Djurdjura Mountains in Algeria

Authors

  • Zbigniew Kotański Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute, Rakowiecka 4, PL-00-975 Warszawa, Poland
  • Gerard Gierliński Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute, Rakowiecka 4, PL-00-975 Warszawa, Poland
  • Tadeusz Ptaszyński ul. Strońska 1 m 12, PL-01-461 Warszawa, Poland

Keywords:

Palaeoichnology, stratigraphy, Djurdjura Mountains, Middle Triassic, Rotodactylus, footprints

Abstract

In 1983, during stratigraphic investigations in the Djurdjura Mountains, vertebrate tracks were discovered in the Middle Triassic Haizer-Akouker Unit at the Belvédčre (Bkherdous) locality in Algeria. The footprints are about 2 cm long and consist of impressions of four clawed digits (I-IV), plus a reverted digit V. Manus imprints were overstepped by those of the pes. Originally interpreted as lizard footprints, they have been recently diagnosed as Rotodactylus cf. bessieri Demathieu 1984. In the current literature, Rotodactylus trackmakers are regarded as a group closest to dinosaurs among stem archosaurs. The footprints demonstrate a terrestrial sedimentary regime in the Maghrebids area during the ?late Anisian.

Downloads

Published

2010-03-27

Issue

Vol. 48 No. 1 (2004)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as this can lead to productive exchanges and earlier and more frequent citation of the published work (See The Effect of Open Access).