How to verify fossil tracks: the first record of dinosaurs from Palestine
How to verify fossil tracks: the first record of dinosaurs from Palestine
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DOI：
10.1080/08912963.2022.2069020
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发表时间：
2022-05-08
影响因子：
1.4
通讯作者：
Sander，P. Martin
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lallensack，Jens N.;Owais，Abdalla;Sander，P. Martin
推定的四足动物足迹的鉴定并不总是明确的。其他沉积结构也被反复误认为足迹，包括其他足迹化石，如节肢动物足迹、洞穴和鱼类进食痕迹;侵蚀特征;以及人为痕迹。我们在这里回顾的困难，模棱两可，或有争议的情况下，已在文献中讨论的例子。然后，我们讨论了四足动物足迹验证的四个主要标准：（1）规则轨道形态的保存，（2）足迹形态的保存，（3）变形结构（最好在横截面上看到）和（4）时间或环境背景。在这些标准中，标准1最明确，很少受到质疑。我们将这些标准应用于位于巴勒斯坦Al-Bireh市的一个新站点，该站点属于下白垩纪（Albian）Soreq组。该部位保留了一个表面，表面有许多模糊的凹陷，缺乏解剖细节。根据标准1，确定了两条明确的轨道，证明了巴勒斯坦首次发现恐龙化石。该遗址是东部黎凡特晚白垩世碳酸盐台地的一部分，证明了该台地在海平面以上的时间出现以及与大陆的连接。
The identification of presumed tetrapod tracks is not always unequivocal. Other sedimentary structures have been repeatedly mistaken for tracks, including other trace fossils such as arthropod tracks, burrows and fish feeding traces; erosional features; and human-made traces. We here review instances of difficult, ambiguous, or controversial cases that have been discussed in the literature. We then discuss four main criteria for the verification of tetrapod tracks: (1) preservation of regular trackway morphology, (2) preservation of track morphology, (3) deformation structures (best seen in cross-section) and (4) the temporal or environmental context. Of these criteria, criterion 1 is the most unambiguous and has rarely been challenged. We apply these criteria to a new site located within the city of Al-Bireh, Palestine, which belongs to the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Soreq Formation. The site preserves a surface with many indistinct depressions that lack anatomical detail. Two unequivocal trackways are identified per criterion 1, demonstrating the first known occurrence of dinosaur fossils in Palestine. The tracksite is part of the late Lower Cretaceous carbonate platform of the eastern Levant, demonstrating temporal emergence of the platform above sea level and a connection to the mainland.