Early Permian Ichnofossils from the Northern Caballo Mountains Sierra County, New Mexico

An extensive ichnofossil assemblage is reported from ripple-laminated sandstones ~ 20 m and ~45 m above the base of the Abo Formation, near Lone Mountain in the northern Caballo Mountains (Sierra County,
New Mexico). This assemblage is of early Wolfcampian age and derived from sheetflood sandstones deposited on a broad floodplain with no direct marine influence on sedimentation. Invertebrate ichnofossils are assigned
to Permichnium sp., Stiaria intermedia and cf. Tonganoxichnus robledoensis, and several problematic invertebrate ichnofossils are unassigned. The tetrapod ichnofossils are assigned to Batrachichnus salamandroides, Dromopus lacertoides, cf. Gilmoreichnus hermitanus and Dimetropus nicolasi. Tonganoxichnus, Batrachichnus and Dromopus are the most common ichnofossils, and the relatively low ichnodiversity distinguishes the Caballo ichnoassemblage from that of the Robledo Mountains Formation in the Robledo Mountains. The differences between the Caballo and Robledo Mountains ichnoassemblages are not age related, but most likely reflect paleoenvironmental differences along a north-south transect from tidal flat (Robledo Mountains) to inland floodplain.
(Caballo).