When 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.

Sometimes They Come Back: Recovery and Reinterpretation of a Trackway Slab from the Permian Coconino Sandstone of the Southwestern United States / Citton, Paolo; Sacchi, Eva; Nicosia, Umberto. - In: ICHNOS. - ISSN 1042-0940. - STAMPA. - 19:3(2012), pp. 165-174. [10.1080/10420940.2012.702607]

Sometimes They Come Back: Recovery and Reinterpretation of a Trackway Slab from the Permian Coconino Sandstone of the Southwestern United States

CITTON, PAOLO;SACCHI, Eva;NICOSIA, Umberto
2012

Abstract

When 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.
2012
tetrapod tracks; invertebrate tracks; chelichnus; biomechanics; coconino sandstone; permian
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Sometimes They Come Back: Recovery and Reinterpretation of a Trackway Slab from the Permian Coconino Sandstone of the Southwestern United States / Citton, Paolo; Sacchi, Eva; Nicosia, Umberto. - In: ICHNOS. - ISSN 1042-0940. - STAMPA. - 19:3(2012), pp. 165-174. [10.1080/10420940.2012.702607]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/441857
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