First occurrence of tetrapod footprints from the continental Triassic of the Sidi Said Maachou area (Western Meseta, Morocco)

The Sidi Said Maachou area in the Moroccan western Meseta preserves a succession, up to 400 m thick, of hitherto poorly studied continental Triassic deposits. Recent detailed geological mapping proposes a lithostratigraphic subdivision of the predominantly red-coloured siliciclastic deposits into three formations. Laminated mudstones and fine-grained sandstones in the upper part of the Oued Oum Er Rbiaa Formation have the most interesting fossil content including plant impressions, rhizoliths, fish scales, and invertebrate and vertebrate traces. These biogenic remains are partially associated with tool marks, microbially induced sedimentary structures, oscillation ripples, desiccation cracks, and halite pseudomorphs, suggesting sedimentation in a playa-like, fluvio-lacustrine system under semiarid conditions. All tetrapod footprints from these beds are assigned to Brachychirotherium parvum and indistinguishable from other occurrences of the ichnogenus in Central Europe and North America. Supposed trackmakers are archosaurs of the crocodile stem-group (Crurotarsi) that were widely spread over Triassic Pangaea. Because Brachychirotherium is only known from Late Triassic (Carnian-Rhaetian) deposits, the same age is attributed to the footprint horizon of the Oued Oum Er Rbiaa Formation. This is the first record of Brachychirotherium on the African continent and the first record of Triassic tetrapod footprints in Morocco outside of the High Atlas. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.