Avipeda phoenix Vialov, 1965

Abbassi, Nasrollah, Salehi Tinooni, Mohammad, Ghorbani Dehnavi, Mahdi, Shakeri, Safoora & Eshaghi, Ali, 2024, Oligocene vertebrate footprints from the Lower Red Formation, Central Iran, Fossil Record 27 (2), pp. 265-287 : 265-287

Ichnospecies Avipeda phoenix Vialov, 1965

Fig. 3

Materials.

Four footprints preserved in three slabs ( IFMI -682 / 1-3) .

Diagnosis.

Small, tridactyl tracks up to 1.6 cm long, digits short, relatively broad, angle ( Vialov 1965; translated by Lucas 2007).

Description.

Slab IFMI - 682 / 1 (Fig. 3 A, B ) includes medium-sized, tridactyl footprints, preserved as concave epirelief on the upper bedding plane of fine-grained, ripple-mark-bearing, brown sandstone. Digit imprints are straight, with sharp tips, slightly deformed by reliefs of ripple marks, and connected to each other in the heel part. The digit III imprint is thicker and larger than the lateral digits, and wider in the front part of the digits; one digital pad is visible in the distal part of digit III. Slab IFMI - 682 / 2 comprises one medium-sized tridactyl footprint, preserved as convex hyporelief in a lower bedding plane of thin-bedded, fine-grained brown sandstone (Fig. 3 C ). Digit III is longer than the lateral digits, and the interdigital angle between digit II and IV is wide. The metapodium imprint is an eminence, and the digits are connected to the metapodium. Proximal outline of the footprints slightly convex, without digit I imprint. Small slab no. IFMI - 682 / 3 includes one tridactyl bird footprint, preserved as concave epirelief on the fine-grained brown sandstone, filled by fine-grained, lighter, silt-size sediments (Fig. 3 D ). Similar to previous slabs, it shows a digit III imprint larger than the lateral digits. One of the lateral digits (here considered as digit IV) is thicker than the other. The tips of the digits are round or slightly sharp in the footprint slabs of IFMI - 682.

Discussion.

Vialov (1965) established Avipeda with three ichnospecies Avipeda phoenix , A. sirin , and A. filiportatis . Later, other new ichnospecies were added or recombined with Avipeda . Sarjeant and Langstone (1994) recombined Passeripedia ipolyensis Kordos (1985) as Avipeda ipolyensis but Abbassi et al. (in press) believe that the diagnosis of P. ipolyensis lacks any distinctive feature, and there is no description and considered Passeripedia ipolyensis as a nomen dubium. On the other hand, Abbassi et al. (in press) considered A. sirin as a junior synonym of A. phoenix , and Sarjeant and Langston (1994) recombined A. filiportatis as Gruipeda filiportatis . Thus, the valid ichnospecies of Avipeda include:

Avipeda adunca Sarjeant & Langston, 1994 .

Avipeda circumontis Lockley et al., 2022 .

Avipeda gryponyx Sarjeant & Reynolds, 2001 .

Avipeda phoenix Vialov, 1965 .

Avipeda rastini Abbassi, 2022 .

Avipeda thrinax Sarjeant & Reynolds, 2001 .

The studied materials of the Deh Nar section, show similar shape to the type materials of A. phoenix , mainly with its wide lateral digit angle, although the Den Nar materials are larger.

Figures

Figure 3. Avipeda phoenix. A. B. Preserved as concave epirelief on the ripple mark-bearing surface of sandstone (sampled IFMI - 682 / 1); C, D. Preserved as convex hyporeliefs (sampled specimen, IFMI - 682 / 2-3).