STEPHANIAN TETRAPOD ICHNOFOSSILS AND A TRIPLOSOBID WING FROM THE NARRAGANSETT BASIN OF ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS, USA

The Pennsylvanian-aged Narragansett Basin of southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island has long been known as a rich source of floral and faunal fossils, including tetrapod ichnofossils. Lull (1920) reported the discovery of a sizable reptilian manus/pes set that he attributed to Dromopus (but now assigned to Tambachichnium) at a quarry situated approximately 2 kilometers south of the center of the town of Attleboro, Massachusetts. A newly collected suite of tetrapod footprints has been found at the locale, in association with a triplosobid insect wing with possible body fossil and biserial myriapod trackways referrable to Diplichnites. The tetrapod footprint specimens collected thus far, several of which have yet to be identified, consist of isolated tracks, manus/pes sets, and incomplete trackways; thus, assignation at the species level is presently not possible. Nonetheless, five ichnogenera, including Batrachichnus and cf. Limnopus (representing temnospondyl amphibians), Dromopus and Tambachichnium (basal diapsids), and cf. Dimetropus (basal synapsids), are now known from the site. These fossils represent a typical Permo-Carboniferous tetrapod trace fossil community. If the identification of Dimetropus is correct, these tracks would be the first record of synapsids from the Narragansett Basin. The recent discovery of the index fossil fern Odontopteris cantabrica Wagner from the quarry, as well as local stratigraphic relations, confirms a Stephanian age for the fossils.