Intra-trackway morphological variations due to substrate consistency: the El Frontal dinosaur tracksite (Lower Cretaceous, Spain).
An ichnological and sedimentological study of the El Frontal dinosaur tracksite (Early Cretaceous, Cameros basin, Soria, Spain) highlights the pronounced intra-trackway variation found in track morphologies of four theropod trackways. Photogrammetric 3D digital models revealed various and distinct intra-trackway morphotypes, which reflect changes in footprint parameters such as the pace length, the track length, depth, and height of displacement rims. Sedimentological analyses suggest that the original substrate was non-homogenous due to lateral changes in adjoining microfacies. Multidata analyses indicate that morphological differences in these deep and shallow tracks represent a part of a continuum of track morphologies and geometries produced by a gradient of substrate consistencies across the site. This implies that the large range of track morphologies at this site resulted from similar trackmakers crossing variable facies. The trackways at the El Frontal site present an exemplary case of how track morphology, and consequently potential ichnotaxa, can vary, even when produced by a single trackmaker.
Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Carrer de l'Escola Industrial, 23, Sabadell, Barcelona, Catalonia.
Novella L
NL
Razzolini
Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Carrer de l'Escola Industrial, 23, Sabadell, Barcelona, Catalonia; Grupo Aragosaurus-IUCA, Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
Bernat
B
Vila
Grupo Aragosaurus-IUCA, Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
Diego
D
Castanera
Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Structure and Motion Laboratory, Royal Veterinary College, London, United Kingdom; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Division of Biology and Medicine, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America.
Peter L
PL
Falkingham
Paleoymás S.L. Pol. Empresarium, Zaragoza, Spain.
José Luis
JL
Barco
Grupo Aragosaurus-IUCA, Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
José Ignacio
JI
Canudo
Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America; School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Phillip L
PL
Manning
Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Carrer de l'Escola Industrial, 23, Sabadell, Barcelona, Catalonia.
Angel
A
Galobart
D000818:Animals; D025061:Dinosaurs / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005580:Fossils; D010163:Paleontology; D013030:Spain