Tetrapod footprints from the uppermost level of the Permian Ikakern Formation (Argana Basin, Western High Atlas, Morocco)

Abstract

Tetrapod footprints from the Permian Ikakern Formation of the Argana Basin have long been known but never studied in detail. Here we present the first comprehensive description of recently discovered tracks and trackways that come from near the uppermost layers of an up to 1800 m thick red-bed sequence. Assigned to Hyloidichnus Gilmore, 1927 and Pachypes Leonardi et al., 1975, these ichnofossils suggest a Middle to Late Permian age of the track-bearing strata. Potential trackmakers are medium to large-sized moradisaurine captorhinids and pareiasaurs. This strongly parallels the bodyfossil record inasmuch as the only known skeletal remains of terrestrial tetrapods from the study area belong to both of these groups. Based on this twofold evidence, captorhinids and Pareiasauria have to be considered as abundant faunal elements of the ancient floodplain environment that is represented by the upper part of the Ikakern Formation. As one of only a few places in the world with closely associated body and ichnofossils of Late Palaeozoic age, the Argana Basin has a high potential for allowing the reconstruction of terrestrial ecosystems during the early stages of the break-up of central Pangaea and just before Mesozoic diapsid reptiles gained ascendancy. Further research on this stimulating topic will significantly contribute to the understanding of still poorly known Middle and Late Permian tetrapod ichnofaunas.