Where: Cuneo, Italy (44.4° N, 7.0° E: paleocoordinates 9.1° N, 20.8° E)

• coordinate stated in text

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Werfenian quartzite Member (Ponte di Nava Quartzite Formation), Early/Lower Triassic (252.2 - 247.2 Ma)

• "The sedimentary rock belonging to the quartz-rich clastic succession does not allow precise dating because of the lack of biostratigraphic markers as commonly happen for these kind of deposits. They are here referred to the upper Permian-Lower Triassic at the base of their stratigraphic position in the Sautron Unit, similar to that of the very comparable quartz-conglomerate and quartzarenite rocks occurring not only in the Briançonnais Domain, but also in the Southern Alps, Sardinia and Provence. For this reason, in order to constrain the age of the track-bearing horizon, some considerations are required: (i) the coarse quartz-conglomerates (“Verrucano Brianzonese”) are commonly referred to the late Permian-earliest Triassic (Gidon, 1958b; Carraro et al., 1970; Megard-Galli & Baud, 1977; Decarlis & Lualdi, 2009); (ii) the Lower Triassic age can be hypothesized considering the occurrence of Estheria minuta and Myacites fassaensis within the “Ponte di Nava Quarzites” (Decarlis & Lualdi, 2009); (iii) the “lower cargneule” unit and its lateral equivalent “Case Val Marenca Pelites” are generally attributed to the late Early Triassic (Gidon, 1958b; Carraro et al., 1970; Megard-Galli & Baud, 1977; Decarlis & Lualdi, 2009); (iv) the lower parts of “Marbres Phylliteux” are considered early Anisian in age, on the basis of the occurrence of Rhizocorallium, that is regarded as an early Anisian marker all over the Tethyan realm (Baud, 1976); (v) an early Anisian age for the base of the lower calcareous complex (“Marbres Phylliteux” and Costa Losera Formation) is also suggested by the occurrence of Dasycladacean algae and crinoidal remains (Dadocrinus sp.; Carraro et al., 1970); (vi) in the northern Briançonnais of southwestern Switzerland a find of the ammonoid Beyrichites cadoricus in the upper part of the St-Triphon Formation indicate a middle Anisian age (Baud et al., 2016). Additionally, it is worth mentioning that both in the Geological Map of the Argentera Massif (Malaroda, 1970; Carraro et al., 1970) and in the Geological Map of France at the scale 1: 50.000 (Sheet 896, Larche; Gidon, 1978) the studied outcrop was attributed to Lower Triassic. All the above reported data thus point to a probable attribution of the trampled horizon to the late Early Triassic." (Petti et al. 2020)

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; quartzite

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: trace

Collection methods: Traces left in situ at outcrop

Primary reference: F. M. Petti, H. Furrer, E. Collo, E. Martinetto, M. Bernardi, M. Delfino, M. Romano and M. Piazza. 2020. Archosauriform footprints in the Lower Triassic of Western Alps and their role in understanding the effects of the Permian-Triassic hyperthermal. PeerJ 8:e10522 [B. Allen/B. Allen]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 224578: authorized by Bethany Allen, entered by Bethany Allen on 21.03.2022

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)