NEW ICHNOLOGICAL MATERIAL FROM THE VERA FORMATION (LOS MENUCOS COMPLEX, TRIASSIC), PUESTO VERA LOCALITY, RÍO NEGRO PROVINCE, ARGENTINA: A FIRST ACCOUNT

PAOLO CITTON; IGNACIO DÍAZ MARTÍNEZ; SILVINA DE VALAIS; SANTIAGO GONZÁLEZ; GERSON GRECO; JUAN IGNACIO FALCO; CARLOS CÓNSOLE GONELLA

Otro; https://www.peapaleontologica.org.ar/index.php/peapa/article/view/296; 2018

Los Menucos locality, in the north-western sector of the North Patagonian Massif (Río Negro province, Argentina), is prominent for having returned one of the most significant Triassic tetrapod ichnofauna of southern South America. A volcaniclastic succession mainly composed of dacitic to rhyolitic ignimbrites, mesosilicic lavas and subordinate sedimentary rocks, is exposedthere. The tetrapod footprints are preserved in volcaniclastic and sedimentary strata of the Vera Formation, which constitutes, together with the overlying Sierra Colorada Formation, the Los Menucos Complex. The ichnofauna is mainly documented by small and large pentadactyl tracks respectively referable to as Dicynodontipus and Pentasauropus. The Dicynodontipustracks originally came from the Tscherig quarry (west of Los Menucos town), while the Pentasauropus specimens came from the Yancaqueo quarry (east of Los Menucos town). In both cases, the exact stratigraphic position of the material, up to date, is unknown. Here, we present a new ichnosite from the thin sedimentary sequence of Puesto Vera Formation inits type locality. The material consists of 14 footprints of about 5 cm in overall length. The best-preserved tracks are pentadactylwith short and straight digits and show a central, well-developed heel-trace, resembling footprints commonly referredto as Dicynodontipus. The new finding is very important seeing that it allows, for the first time, positioning tetrapod trackswithin the Vera Formation.