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espanolLa localidad Pie de Vaca en el estado de Puebla destaca por su importante abundancia de huellas fosiles pertenecientes a mamiferos, entre las cuales las mas representativas han sido referidas a camelidos y felidos. El proposito del presente estudio fue la caracterizacion formal de este conjunto de huellas y comentar algunos aspectos paleobiologicos relacionados con el tamano, velocidad y modalidad de progresion de los productores del registro icnofosilifero. La muestra consistio en 233 huellas: 154 pertenecen a nueve rastros producidos por camelidos y 79 a tres rastros por felidos. La caracterizacion de las huellas se realizo mediante la comparacion de su tamano y morfologia con otras producidas por taxones fosiles y recientes. Las impresiones de camelidos, con base en su forma y tamano, fueron designadas a la icnoespecie Lamaichnum guanicoe, ya que muestran el patron morfologico tipico de este grupo de artiodactilos. Se sugiere que fueron producidas por algun integrante del genero Hemiauchenia, el cual corresponde al camelido mas comun del Cenozoico tardio de Mexico. Por su parte, las huellas de felidos unicamente fueron referidas a la morfofamilia Felipedidae debido a la mala preservacion de sus caracteres icnotaxonomicos; sin embargo, al ser mas grandes que huellas de los icnogeneros Felipeda, Pycnodactylopus, Pumaeichnum y Mitsupes, se sugiere que fueron producidas por alguna forma de talla mediana a grande, por ejemplo un macairodontino o un panterino. El modo de progresion de ambos productores corresponde con el de organismos con caminata relativamente rapida que se desplazan a una velocidad inferior a los 4 m/s. La direccion y numero de individuos de los rastros de camelidos, son indicativos de un comportamiento gregario, probablemente asociado a cierta organizacion social. En el caso de los felidos se propone un comportamiento solitario o en pareja. EnglishThe Pie de Vaca locality in the State of Puebla stands out for its important abundance of fossil mammal footprints, among them, the most representatives have been referred to camelids and felids. The purpose of the present study was the formal characterization of this set of footprints and comment on some paleobiological aspects related to their size, speed, and mode of progression of the track-makers. The sample consists of 233 footprints including 154 referable to nine trackways produced by camelids and 79 referable to three trackways produced by felids. The characterization of the tracks was made by comparing their size and morphology with others produced by fossil and recent taxa. The impressions of camelids, based on their shape and size, were designated to the icnospecies Lamaichnum guanicoe because they show the typical morphological pattern of this group of artiodactyls. It is suggested that they were produced by some member of the genus Hemiauchenia, which corresponds to the most common camelid of the Late Cenozoic of Mexico. On the other hand, the tracks of felids were only referred to the morphofamily Felipedidae due to the bad preservation of its ichnotaxonomic characters; however, being larger than traces of the ichnogenera Felipeda, Pycnodactylopus, Pumaeichnum and Mitsupes, it is suggested that they were produced by some form of medium to large size, a machairodontid or a pantherine, for instance. The mode of progression of both producers corresponds to that of relatively fast walking organisms that move at a speed lower than 4 m/s. The direction and number of individuals of camelids trackways, are indicative of gregarious behavior, probably associated with a certain social organization. In the case of felids, solitary or couple behavior is proposed. |
