Lower Eocene Footprints from Northwest Washington, USA. Part 1: Reptile Tracks

Lower Eocene Footprints from Northwest Washington, USA. Part 1: Reptile Tracks

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Lower Eocene fluvial The Border South strata in the Chuckanut Formation preserve abundant bird and mammal tracks.Reptile trace fossils include footprints from a small turtle (ichnogenus Chelonipus), and several Crocodylian trackways that consist of irregularly spaced footprints associated with linear tail drag marks.The latter trackways represent “punting” locomotion, where a submerged Crocodylian used intermittent substrate contacts to provide forward motion of their neutrally buoyant bodies.

Two adjacent sandstone blocks preserve Crocodylian trace fossils that are named herein as a new ichnogenus and ichnospecies Anticusuchipes amnis.Two other Crocodylian trackways lack sufficient Multi-Frame Super-Resolution Reconstruction Based on Gradient Vector Flow Hybrid Field detail for ichnotaxonomic assignment.