Canipeda longigriffa Panin and Avram, 1962

Abbassi, Nasrollah, Khoshyar, Masoumeh, Lucas, Spencer G. & Esmaeili, Farid, 2021, Extensive vertebrate tracksite from the Upper Red Formation (middle-late Miocene), west Zanjan, northwestern Iran, Fossil Record 24 (1), pp. 101-116 : 106-108

Canipeda longigriffa Panin and Avram, 1962 .

Discussion

Canidae footprints are known as elongate footprints with claw marks that suggest non-retractable claws, a feature of canids. The digit imprints are close to each other with a symmetrical pattern along the AP line, and metatarsal and/or metacarpal imprints may be asymmetrical in the posterior lobe ( Iliopoulos et al., 2012; Sarjeant et al., 2002).

N. Abbassi et al.: Extensive vertebrate tracksite from the Upper Red Formation (middle–late Miocene) 107

The tetradactyl, quadrupedal, digitigrade, paraxonic and homopodial tracks include Canipeda , Creodontipus, Quiritipes , Tetrastoibopus , and Bestiopeda ( Melchor et al., 2019) .

Tetrastoibopus was introduced for asymmetrical, plantigrade to semi-plantigrade footprints exhibiting four single small pads on the digits ( II to V) and short claw imprints ( Sarjeant and Langston, 1994). Carnotipus has large, asymmetrical tetra- to pentadactyl footprints with elongate imprints with tapered distal ends and without claw imprints ( López et al., 1992). Sarjeant and Langston (1994) established Chelipus as a canid footprint and replaced it with Bestiopeda gracilis ( Vialov, 1965) . Canipeda differs from Bestiopeda either by larger size or by closely set, ovoid digit prints. Metatarsal pad imprints of Canipeda are larger, and the ratio of metatarsal pad length to footprint length ( MPL / FL) is about 0.50. Bestiopeda , however, has a MPL / FL value of 0.36. Abbassi and Shakeri (2005) reported Creodontipus from URF in western Zanjan as a tetradactyl pes overprinted on the manus footprints without claw imprints: first Canidae footprints from the Aghajari Formation (late Miocene–Pliocene) in the Zagros Mountains, southern Iran, had been reported, and because of the presence of distinctive claw imprints, these were attributed to Canipeda ( Abbassi, 2020b) .

Description

Tetradactyl footprints with ellipsoidal or sub-spheroidal digit imprints, spread from large metapodial imprints. Middle digit imprints ( III – IV) are longer than the lateral digit ( II and V) imprints. Metatarsal/metapodium imprints are of the same size and heart shaped with two to three posterior lobes. Distinctive claw imprints are visible in front of the digit imprints ( Fig. 7 ). The contact line of the claw imprint with the digit imprints is well preserved in some footprints. The positions of the claw imprints on digits III and IV are straight and inclined on lateral digits II and V. The claw imprint of digit III is aligned in front of the digit, and the claw imprint of digit IV, however, is inclined to the midline of the footprint. Positions of pes and manus imprints are not constant, and many pes imprints are overlapped on the manus imprints or separated from each other, or they are isolated footprints. Pes and manus imprints are of the same size. Table 1 shows the dimensions of these footprints.

Figures

Figure 7. (a–d) Claw imprints of Canipeda longigriffa. Scale is in centimeters (cm) in (a)–(d), and scale bar equals 2 cm in (d).

Tables

Table 1. Measurements on mammal and bird footprints in the lower part of the tracksite of Chehrabad.

Ichnospecies	Frequency of measurements	Stride (mm)	Pace (mm)	Pace angulation	Footprint length	Footprint width		Digit length (mm)				Digit width (mm)			Trackway width
				ANG	FL (mm)	FW (mm)	L II	L III	L IV	L V	W II	W III	W IV	W V	(mm)
Felipeda lynxi	25 footprints 3 trackways	712	361	155◦	51	49	16	16	16	16	12	12	12	11	120
Canipeda longigriffa	33 footprints 6 trackways	792	383	165◦	57	58	20	20	21	19	13	13	14	14	69