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Brasilichnium

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Brasilichnium
Trace fossil classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Ichnofamily: Chelichnopodidae
Ichnogenus: Brasilichnium
Leonardi 1981
Type ichnospecies
Brasilichium elusivum
(Leonardi, 1983)
Ichnospecies
  • Brasilichnium elusivum Leonardi, 1983

Brasilichnium is the name of fossilised mammaliamorph footprints dating from the Jurassic and Cretaceous. They have been identified from Brazil and western North America.[1]

Brasilichnium is the name of the footprints, identified by their shape, and not of the genus or genera that made them, which is as yet unknown but was likely a mammaliamorph with a semi-erect leg posture. Mammaliamorphs were ancestors of modern mammals.[2]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Lockley, M.G. (2011). "The ichnotaxonomic status of Brasilichnium with special reference to occurrences in the Navajo Sandstone (Lower Jurassic) in the western USA". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. 53: 306–315. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  2. ^ D'Orazi Porchetti, Simone; Bertini, Reinaldo J.; Langer, Max C. (January 2017). "Walking, running, hopping: Analysis of gait variability and locomotor skills in Brasilichnium elusivum Leonardi, with inferences on trackmaker identification". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 465: 14–29. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.10.009. hdl:11449/173809.