Permian tetrapod footprints from the Lucero Uplift, central New Mexico

Abstract

Red beds of the Early Permian Abo Formation and overlying DeChelly Sandstone (Yeso Group) in the Lucero uplift of central New Mexico are locally rich in fossil tetrapod footprints. The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque, New Mexico, houses 30 specimens with tetrapod footprints from 18 different localities within the study area. The assemblage includes tracks of Amphisauropus Haubold, 1970, Ichniotherium Pohlig, 1892, Hyloidichnus Gilmore, 1927, and Dromopus Marsh, 1894, that are referred to seymouriamorph, diadectomorph, captorhinid and parareptile or diapsid eureptile trackmakers. The relative abundance of Amphisauropus tracks seems to be a characteristic feature of Early Permian tetrapod footprint assemblages in central New Mexico that are intermediate between coastal plain and inland to upland paleoenvironments. Based on vertebrate tracks, the upper part of the Abo Formation in the study area is suggested to be of late Early Permian (~Artinskian/late Wolfcampian to early Leonardian) age. 387