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. 2011 Feb 14;6(2):e14642.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0014642.

Didactyl tracks of paravian theropods (Maniraptora) from the ?Middle Jurassic of Africa

Alexander Mudroch  1 , Ute Richter, Ulrich Joger, Ralf Kosma, Oumarou Idé, Abdoulaye Maga
Affiliations

Didactyl tracks of paravian theropods (Maniraptora) from the ?Middle Jurassic of Africa

Alexander Mudroch et al. PLoS One. .

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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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: Volkswagen Financial Services, a provider of money for buyers of cars of Volkswagen AG in Germany, are funders of non-profit social, cultural, and charity projects. As part of this engagement a certain amount of money was donated for the project in Niger. The scientific research was part of a greater project in Niger involving the Germany, Niger, and the NGO Cargo (Touareg Aid) where German partners built a nomad school and delivered food to nourish the nomad children (mainly in Touareg). In exchange for structural development measures in the north of the Niger, the team of scientists lead by the State Natural History Museum Braunschweig were allowed to conduct the two dinosaur digging campaigns in 2007 and 2008. The whole project was partly sponsored by Volkswagen Financial Services without any requirements. No commercial interests were involved. The money was donated for non-profit reasons for a cultural and charity project. None of the crew was or is employed by Volkswagen Financial Services. The authors were free in all their professional scientific decisions. The publication of scientific results was and is not part of the interests of Volkswagen Financial Services. The money they donated to the project was partly used to conduct the fieldwork. No other participation was intended by the donator. Publication of results is the sole interest of the scientists involved. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Paleogeographical map of the Middle Jurassic globe with important localities of Gondwana indicated.
After Remes et al .
Figure 2
Figure 2. Map of dinosaur localities in the vicinity of Agadez, Rep. Niger.
Generated with GoogleEarth MapMaker Utility 2009.
Figure 3
Figure 3. A) Map of the Irhazer theropod tracksite with areas of data coverage indicated.
The well documented tracks are numbered and colored. Photos of selected tracks are represented in Figure 4. Casts of the whole trackway E (NMB-1886-Sp) and of the holotype (NMB-1887-Sp) are indicated. B) Trackway pattern below is inferred from individual track recognition and indicated with different colors. Arrows point in the direction of motion for the trackmakers.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Tracks from different parts of the tracksite area (see Fig. 3 ).
Track outlines are highlighted with chalk, and left and right footprint indicated by even and odd numbers. Scale bar equals 10 cm. A) Examples of superimposition and disturbance of tracks A13, C13, and D19. B) Undisturbed tracks B18, C15, and D16 pointing in different directions with prominent sediment bulges around every pedal impression. C) Undisturbed track B25 in an area of larger stride lengths. D) Track A14/C14 to the right results from a superimposition of two nearly identical footprints and is disturbed by track E8 of the crossing trackway; tracks B20 and D18 on the left are undisturbed. E) Undertracks are faintly visible where the original sandstone layer is lost due to erosion. Tracks included are A7, C7, B26, and D26. F) Undisturbed track E4 of crossing trackway.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Holotype of new ichnotaxon Paravipus didactyloides. Specimen NMB-1887-Sp in the SNMH Braunschweig, Germany.
A) Resin cast of the original right footprint made from a silicone mould. B) Silhouette of the original pes imprint. C) Photograph of the original pes imprint in situ. The scale bar is equal to 10 cm for all three images.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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