New Middle to ?Late Jurassic dinosaur tracksites in the Central High Atlas Mountains, Morocco

Abstract

Besides bones, fossil tracks and trackways are important sources of knowledge about dinosaur palaeobiology. Here, we report three new tracksites from two different synclines in the Imilchil area, Central High Atlas, Morocco. The tracks and trackways are preserved in fluvial deposits in different levels of the Isli Formation (Early Bathonian–?Upper Jurassic), and contain impressions made by sauropods, theropods and ornithopods, as well as tracks that might represent bird-like non-avian theropod dinosaurs. In addition to traditional field measurements, three-dimensional digital models of the track sites were created using photogrammetry. These new tracksites add to the rich faunal ichnoassemblage already recorded from the High Atlas Mountains and North Africa, which is considerably richer than the contemporaneous body fossil record, and also provide new data on dinosaurs–substrate interactions.