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Journal of the Geological Society; 2007; v. 164; issue.6; p. 1113-1118;
DOI: 10.1144/0016-76492007-015
© 2007 Geological Society of London

Original Article

Ecology of earliest reptiles inferred from basal Pennsylvanian trackways

Howard J. Falcon-Lang1, Michael J. Benton1 & Matthew Stimson2

1 1Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK (e-mail: howard.falcon-lang{at}bristol.ac.uk)
2 2172 Palisades Drive, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada E1A 5K2

Trackways representing the earliest evidence for the origin of reptiles (amniotes) are reported from the basal Pennsylvanian Grande Anse Formation, New Brunswick, Canada. Amniote characters include pentadactyl manus and pes, slender digits whose relative lengths approximate a phalangeal formula of 23453 (manus) and 23454 (pes), narrow digit splay (40–63°), putative transverse scale impressions on digit pads, and straight tail drag. The trackways occur in the deposits of a seasonally active dryland river channel. Sedimentological context suggests, for the first time, that early amniotes existed in water-stressed environments, where the cleidoic egg would have presumably conferred reproductive advantage.




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D. G. KEIGHLEY, J. H. CALDER, A. F. PARK, R. K. PICKERILL, J. W.F. WALDRON, H. J. FALCON-LANG, and M. J. BENTON
Discussion on ecology of earliest reptiles inferred from basal Pennsylvanian trackwaysJournal, Vol. 164, 2007, 1113-1118
Journal of the Geological Society, 2008; 165: 983 - 987.
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