Talmontopus tersi " Lapparent & Montenat 1967
Creators: name: Moreau, Jean-David
name: Vullo, Romain
name: Bichr, Elsie
name: Thomas, Jérôme
name: Gand, Georges
name: Gagnaison, Cyril
name: Barrier, Pascal
name: Néraudeau, Didier
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Anchisauripodidae
Talmontopus
Talmontopus tersi

description: “ Talmontopus tersi ” Lapparent & Montenat, 1967 (nomen dubium) (Fig. 12 A-C)   
 Talmontopus tersi Lapparent & Montenat, 1967: 29-30, pl. XII.1, fig. 17.   
 STATUS. — Subjective senior synonym of Kayentapus isp.   
EXAMINED MATERIAL. — Holotype: ULB-04C02_A.  
DESCRIPTION  
The track ULB-04C02_A consists of a single, slightly longer than wide (L/W = 1.2), 26 cm long and 21.5 cm wide tridactyl track (Fig. 12 A-C; Table 2). The angle between II and IV is large (II-IV = 64°). Digit imprints are quite thin and pointed. The traces of digits II and IV are straight and quite similar in length. The trace of digit III is the longest and is slightly curved. The digito-metatarsal base of digit IV is slightly more proximal than that of digit II. The free part of III is quite short (L/D = 2.8). The imprints of pads and claws are only poorly marked.  
REMARKS  
 Based on the track ULB-04C02_ A, Lapparent & Montenat (1967) erected Talmontopus tersi. They justified the creation of “ T. tersi ” by a very high T value between thin tracks of digits, and the presence of a putative web mark.We consider the web mark drawn in fig. 17 of Lapparent & Montenat (1967) as a sedimentary structure that corresponds to a slight thickening of sediment preserved between the traces of digits (see also plate XII.1 inLapparent & Montenat 1967; ULB-04C02_A). Since ULB-04C02_A shows many characters of Kayentapus Welles, 1971, we consider “ Talmontopus ” as a subjective senior synonym of this ichnogenus. Kayentapus differs from Grallator and Eubrontes in showing larger divarication angle II-IV and a smaller L/W ratio. Kayentapus was erected by Welles (1971) based on the type ichnospecies K. hopii Welles, 1971 from the Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation in Arizona. Two other ichnospecies were later described from Early Jurassic strata of the United States and Poland: K. minor (Lull, 1953) Weems, 1987 and K. soltykovensis (Gierliński, 1991) Gierliński, 1996 (firstly named Grallator (Eubrontes) soltykovensis in Gierliński 1991 and Gierliński & Ahlberg 1994), respectively (Weems 1987; Gierliński 1996). Based on its D/W and (L-D)/W ratios (0.43 and 0.78, respectively), the track ULB-04C02_A fully falls within the morphological space of K. hopii (Gierliński 1996: fig.1 andLockley et al. 2011: fig. 6B). However, K. hopii is clearly larger (L = 34.0-35.5) than ULB-04C02_A (Fig. 4). It also differs from ULB-04C02_A in showing traces of digits that are slender and well individualised, and digito-metatarsal pads of the digit IV much more proximal. ULB-04C02_A is close to K. minor (Fig. 4), however, it seems to differ from this ichnospecies in showing a higher D/W ratio (see Gierliński 1996: fig. 1 and Lockley et al. 2011: fig. 6B). K. slotykovensis differs from ULB-04C02_A in showing a smaller (L-D)/W ratio (see Gierliński 1996: fig. 1 and Lockley et al. 2011: fig. 6B).
description: Published as part of Moreau, Jean-David, Vullo, Romain, Bichr, Elsie, Thomas, Jérôme, Gand, Georges, Gagnaison, Cyril, Barrier, Pascal & Néraudeau, Didier, 2024, Crocodylomorph and dinosaur tracks from the lowermost Jurassic of Le Veillon (western France): ichnotaxonomic revision of the type material (Lapparent collection), pp. 343-366 in Geodiversitas 46 (8) on pages 359-360, DOI: 10.5252/geodiversitas2024v46a8, http://zenodo.org/record/11501840