TY - JOUR
T1 - Earliest known Gondwanan bird tracks
T2 - Wonthaggi Formation (Early Cretaceous), Victoria, Australia
AU - Martin, Anthony J.
AU - Lowery, Melissa
AU - Hall, Michael
AU - Vickers-Rich, Patricia
AU - Rich, Thomas H.
AU - Serrano-Brañas, Claudia I.
AU - Swinkels, Peter
N1 - Funding Information:
The research was conducted on the ancestral lands of the Bunurong people, and we appreciate the guidance of Dan Turnbull and the Bunurong team in advising us of respectful practices for studying the paleontological legacy of these places. We are grateful to the Royal Auto Club of Victoria (RACV) for providing discounted lodging for most of us during field work there in May 2022. Our sincere thanks go to Rangers Brian Martin and Gerard Delaney of Parks Victoria for assistance with permits, which made it possible for us to explore the Victorian Cretaceous coast. Partial support for travel and field expenses was provided by our respective institutions. Field work was assisted by Aidan Lowery, Ruth Schowalter, Doris Seeget-Villers, Lesley Kool, and Mike Cleeland. Sally Rogers-Davidson masterfully drafted the colorful Footprint Flats stratigraphic section depicted in Fig 2. We thank Associate Editor Miquel Vall-llosera Camps and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions for improving the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2023 Martin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - The fossil record for Cretaceous birds in Australia has been limited to rare skeletal material, feathers, and two tracks, a paucity shared with other Gondwanan landmasses. Hence the recent discovery of 27 avian footprints and other traces in the Early Cretaceous (Barremian-Aptian, 128–120 Ma) Wonthaggi Formation of Victoria, Australia amends their previous rarity there, while also confirming the earliest known presence of birds in Australia and the rest of Gondwana. The avian identity of these tracks is verified by their tridactyl forms, thin digits relative to track lengths, wide divarication angles, and sharp claws; three tracks also have hallux imprints. Track forms and sizes indicate a variety of birds as tracemakers, with some among the largest reported from the Early Cretaceous. Although continuous trackways are absent, close spacing and similar alignments of tracks on some bedding planes suggest gregariousness. The occurrence of this avian trace-fossil assemblage in circumpolar fluvial-floodplain facies further implies seasonal behavior, with trackmakers likely leaving their traces on floodplain surfaces during post-thaw summers.
AB - The fossil record for Cretaceous birds in Australia has been limited to rare skeletal material, feathers, and two tracks, a paucity shared with other Gondwanan landmasses. Hence the recent discovery of 27 avian footprints and other traces in the Early Cretaceous (Barremian-Aptian, 128–120 Ma) Wonthaggi Formation of Victoria, Australia amends their previous rarity there, while also confirming the earliest known presence of birds in Australia and the rest of Gondwana. The avian identity of these tracks is verified by their tridactyl forms, thin digits relative to track lengths, wide divarication angles, and sharp claws; three tracks also have hallux imprints. Track forms and sizes indicate a variety of birds as tracemakers, with some among the largest reported from the Early Cretaceous. Although continuous trackways are absent, close spacing and similar alignments of tracks on some bedding planes suggest gregariousness. The occurrence of this avian trace-fossil assemblage in circumpolar fluvial-floodplain facies further implies seasonal behavior, with trackmakers likely leaving their traces on floodplain surfaces during post-thaw summers.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85177031981&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0293308
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0293308
M3 - Article
C2 - 37967053
AN - SCOPUS:85177031981
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 18
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 11
M1 - e0293308
ER -