AI Article Synopsis
- A new dinosaur tracksite in Niger reveals well-preserved didactyl tracks from a theropod related to birds, indicating its bipedal nature.
- The discovery includes 120 tracks categorized into 5 trackways, with an average footprint size suggesting a medium-sized dinosaur.
- This new ichnotaxon, named Paravipus didactyloides, enhances our understanding of maniraptoran evolution and is significant for the fossil record of Gondwana during the mid-Jurassic.
Article Abstract
Background: A new dinosaur tracksite from ?Middle Jurassic sediments of the Irhazer Group on the plains of Agadez (Rep. Niger, northwest Africa) revealed extraordinarily well preserved didactyl tracks of a digitigrade bipedal trackmaker. The distinct morphology of the pes imprints indicates a theropod trackmaker from a paravian maniraptoran closely related to birds.
Methodology/principal Findings: The early age and the morphological traits of the tracks allow for description of the new ichnotaxon Paravipus didactyloides. A total of 120 tracks are assigned to 5 individual trackways. The 'medium-sized' tracks with an average footprint length of 27.5 cm and footprint width of 23.1 cm are deeply imprinted into the track bearing sandstone.
Conclusions/significance: A comparison with other didactyl tracks gives new insights into the foot morphology of advanced maniraptoran theropods and contributes to knowledge of their evolutionary history. The new ichnotaxon takes an important position in the ichnological fossil record of Gondwana and the mid-Jurassic biota worldwide, because it is among the earliest known records of paravian maniraptorans and of didactyl theropod tracks from Africa.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038851 | PMC |
| http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0014642 | PLOS |
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Article Synopsis
- A new dinosaur tracksite in Niger reveals well-preserved didactyl tracks from a theropod related to birds, indicating its bipedal nature.
- The discovery includes 120 tracks categorized into 5 trackways, with an average footprint size suggesting a medium-sized dinosaur.
- This new ichnotaxon, named Paravipus didactyloides, enhances our understanding of maniraptoran evolution and is significant for the fossil record of Gondwana during the mid-Jurassic.
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