Cheilichnus and Dolichopodus Permian Trackways and Footprints from Arizona

Description: Presented is an ichnofossil specimen containing a reptile trackway. This beautiful piece features a nice reptile trackway along with a few separate prints. The prints in the main trackway measure about 3/4 of an inch wide and show nice detail. They are probably from Cheilichnus duncani, an early mammal-like reptile.

There are two Dolichopodus tracks located at the top of the slab. They are characterized by more slender and longer toes than Cheilichnus tracks. It is believed that Dolichopodus was bi-pedal when running. They are deep and detailed prints that measure about an inch wide. This trackway plate was legally collected on private land by with the owner’s permission.

Laoporus is a track made by a quadrupedal tetrapod vertebrate and has been attributed to synapsids. The legs of these animals were under the body, not out to the side.The mammals of today are but one branch of the Synapsida, a great vertebrate group with a 300 million year history. Pre-mammalian synapsids -- dominated the land vertebrate fauna of the Permian and early Triassic before losing ground to the diversifying dinosaurs and other archosaurs. These pre-mammalian groups of synapsids have at times been called "mammal-like reptiles". This term is however not accurate. None of the synapsids were actually reptiles .