A re-evaluation of pachypes, a pareiasaurian track from the late permian

The ichnotaxon Pachypes dolomiticus LEONARDI et al., 1975 from the Upper Permian Arenaria di Val Gardena (Northern Italy) was erected on the basis of an isolated pes and assigned to pareiasaurs. Over the last three decades several other footprints have been found, including partial trackways, allowing here to refine the P. dolomiticus features and variability and to confirm the biotaxon correlation with pareiasaurs. Recently, two large reptilian ichnotaxa have been uncovered from the Upper Tatarian of Russia. These have been ascribed respectively to Brontopus giganteus HEYLER & LESSERTISSEUR, 1963 (SUKROV et al. 2007), previously found only in the French Salagou Formation (Lodève Basin), and to Sukhonopus primus GUBIN & BOULANOV in GUBIN et al., 2003. Formal revision of Pachypes make possible to include the aforementioned Russian tracks in it. Additionally, the ichnological data support a Late Permian distribution of Pachypes. Furthermore, footprints from the South African Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone (Beaufort Group, Karoo Basin), support a correlation of this interval with that of the French ichnofaunas from the Salagou Formation and Les Pradineaux Formation and thus support a Middle Permian distribution of Brontopus. © 2009 E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.