Early Permian vertebrate trackways from the Cedar Mesa sandstone of eastern Utah: Evidence of predator‐prey interaction

The first detailed description of Early Permian tetrapod trackways from the Cedar Mesa Sandstone is presented. A unique specimen from exposures along the Dirty Devil River north of Hite, Utah was photographed and molded in latex as a rescue mission prior to flooding of the lower end of the Dirty Devil Drainage following the construction of Glen Canyon Dam. The salvaged trackway segments are particularly interesting because they appear to show a large trackmaker (cf. ichnogenus Anomalopus) snapping up a smaller animal (cf. Stenichnus). We interpret this as evidence of a pelyco‐saurian predator eating or carrying off a smaller reptile. Direct evidence of predator‐prey relationships based on vertebrate trackways is very rare. These trackways therefore provide an unusual opportunity to study interaction between two species of Permian vertebrates. Although such trackway evidence of predator‐prey interactions has occasionally been reported from the fossil footprint record, it is rare, and previously reported examples are poorly documented and unconvincing.