Skip to main content

Soft-sediment deformation below mammoth tracks at White Sands National Monument (New Mexico) with implications for biomechanical inferences from tracks.

Bennett, M. R., Bustos, D., Belvedere, M., Martinez, P., Reynolds, S. C. and Urban, T.M., 2019. Soft-sediment deformation below mammoth tracks at White Sands National Monument (New Mexico) with implications for biomechanical inferences from tracks. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 527, 25 - 38.

Full text available as:

[img]
Preview
PDF
Track_Deformation_V6.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.

133kB

Official URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/...

DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.04.023

Abstract

Implicit in any biomechanical analysis of tracks (footprints), whatever the animal, is the assumption that depth distribution within the track reflects the applied plantar pressure in some way. Here we describe sub-track deformation structures produced by Proboscidea (probably Mammuthus columbi) at White Sands National Monument (WHSA) in New Mexico. Patterns of sub-surface deformation are consistent with the plantar pressure data for modern Proboscidea, but do not reflect track morphology. Our work cautions against overinterpreting track topology of any large animal, including extinct animals such as sauropods, in terms of their biomechanics unless the subsurface stratigraphy and associated variation in shear strength is known.

Item Type:Article
ISSN:0031-0182
Uncontrolled Keywords:ichnology; mammoths;footprints; Proboscidea; sub-track deformation
Group:Faculty of Science & Technology
ID Code:32878
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:11 Oct 2019 16:05
Last Modified:14 Mar 2022 14:18

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

More statistics for this item...
Repository Staff Only -