The Mesozoic Vertebrate Radiation in Terrestrial Settings

In the last three decades vertebrate ichnology went through a renaissance due the discovery of new tracksites and the application of rigorous analytic methods (e.g., synapomorphy analyses). This finally allowed full hypothesis testing and a better integration of vertebrate ichnology in paleobiologic, paleoecologic and paleobiogeographic studies. In this chapter we provide a review of recent advances in vertebrate ichnology, focusing on Mesozoic terrestrial reptiles.

By documenting evolutionary patterns, especially regarding locomotor mechanics and behavior, the track record provides clues often undocumented by the skeletal record. Given the abundance and distribution of tracks, the ichnologic record can also be particularly informative when considering timing of appearance of clades, even if only at high taxonomic levels. Ichnologic studies are, however, affected by several biases, such as unequal probability of preservation in different depositional environments, preservational factors, limb–substrate interactions, and convergence in autopodia morphology. In order to contribute to a better understanding of the evolutionary history of life, and its interplay with the changing Earth, ichnologic data need to be integrated with the body fossil record in order to provide a “total-evidence” approach. Only this way can palaeichnology be integrated in evolutionary biology and contribute to macroevolutionary studies finally taking place at the “high table” of paleobiology.

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