A NEW VERTEBRATE FOOTPRINT LOCALITY FROM THE
LATE TRIASSIC PASSAIC FORMATION NEAR BIRDSBORO,
PENNSYLVANIA.
SZAJNA, Michael J., 519 Carsonia Ave., Reading, PA, 19606
HARTLINE, Brian W., 2901 Filbert Ave., Reading,
PA, 19606
Although much recent progress has been made in defining the
vertebrate footprint biostratigraphy of the Late Triassic - Early
Jurassic Newark rift basin, several major gaps still remain. New
footprint finds at the Furnace Hill locality in the Ukrainian Member of
the upper Passaic Formation provide essential information on one of
the more poorly sampled intervals.
As is typical in Late Triassic strata, Rhynchosauroides sp. is
the most abundant form present. The dinosaurian ichnogenus
Atreipus milfordensis records its stratigraphically highest occurrence
and is the second most abundant form at Furnace Hill. The
identification of Chirotherium lulli here is based on a single, but
unmistakable occurrence of two consecutive manus-pes sets. This is
the stratigraphically highest appearance of Chirotherium lulli. Three-
toed, bipedal, theropod tracks referable to the ichnogenus Grallator
are present, but not nearly as abundant as Atreipus. Pes lengths for
Grallator at this site range from 4 to 10 cm. Brachychirotherium sp.
was confidently identified from only two slabs, but several other
poorly preserved tracks in the study set probably are referable to this
ichnogenus. Szajna and Hartline (1995) had reported the occurrence
of Gwyneddichnium at this site, but these tracks have been reviewed
and are now classified as indeterminate.
The Furnace Hill site marks the last appearance of the
Atreipus-dominated assemblage common in the Lockatong Formation
(Carnian) and the lower Passaic Formation (Norian). The ichnotaxa
preserved here document that there has been virtually no change in the
Newark basin vertebrate footprint assemblage from the Carnian to the
Early Rhaetian.
Szajna, M. J., and Hartline, B. W., 1995, New vertebrate footprint
assemblages from the Rhaetian interval of the Passaic Formation
in Berks County, Pennsylvania: Geological Society of America
Abstracts with Programs,
v. 27, no. 1, p. 86.
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