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New Sauropod Trackways from the Middle Jurassic of Portugal

2009; Institute of Paleobiology; Volume: 54; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4202/app.2008.0049

1732-2421

Vanda Faria dos Santos, José Joaquín Moratalla García, Rafael Royo‐Torres,

Evolution and Paleontology Studies

The Galinha tracksite reveals a sequence of Bajocian—Bathonian limestones belonging to the Serra de Aire Formation (West-Central Portugal) and is one of the few sites in the world where Middle Jurassic sauropod dinosaur tracks can be found. This tracksite is characterised by the presence of long, wide gauge sauropod trackways, the Middle Jurassic age of which suggests these dinosaurs were more widely distributed over time than previously thought. Two trackways contain unique pes and manus prints with morphologies that allow a new sauropod ichnotaxon to be described: Polyonyx gomesi igen, et isp. nov. On the basis of different manus/pes prints and trackway features, the proposal is made to subdivide Sauropodomorpha ichno-morphotypes into five groups: Tetrasauropus-like, Otozoum-like, Breviparopus/Parabrontopodus-like; Brontopodus-like, and Polyonyx-like. Polyonyx gomesi igen, et isp. nov. is thought to represent a non-neosauropod eusauropod, with a well developed manus digit I. The posterior orientation of...