Helm, C.W. orcid.org/0000-0001-7995-8809, Bateman, M.D. orcid.org/0000-0003-1756-6046, Carr, A.S. orcid.org/0000-0001-5794-6428 et al. (6 more authors) (2023) Pleistocene fossil snake traces on South Africa’s Cape south coast. Ichnos: an International Journal of Plant and Animal Traces, 30 (2). pp. 98-114. ISSN 1042-0940
Abstract
Snakes form a large, familiar, and distinctive component of the world’s reptile fauna, with a rich body fossil record stretching back to the Jurassic. The sparse, minimal, and questionable evidence of snake traces in the ichnological record is therefore surprising. Extant snakes in southern Africa employ three types of locomotion—rectilinear, sidewinding, and undulatory, all of which result in distinctive, recognizable traces. A site exhibiting convincing evidence of rectilinear motion, probably made by a puff adder, has been identified in Pleistocene aeolianites on South Africa’s Cape south coast. A new ichnogenus and ichnospecies, Anguinichnus linearis, have been erected to describe this trace. A new suite of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from aeolianites from the De Kelders Cave locality, 1.4 km to the south, suggests that the site dates to ∼93–83 ka. Trace fossil evidence of sidewinding and undulatory motion is more equivocal and open to alternative interpretations.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author-produced version of a paper accepted for publication in Ichnos. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Aeolianite; puff adder; rectilinear motion; sidewinding; osL dating |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Geography (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 Feb 2024 14:49 |
Last Modified: | 03 Sep 2024 10:50 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Informa UK Limited |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/10420940.2023.2250062 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:209679 |