Procolophonichnium tracks from the middle to late Permian of central Germany

In this study we compare footprints and trackways of small reptiles assigned to the ichnotaxon Procolophonichnium from two central German study areas: (1) the middle to late Permian Mammendorf quarry close to Magdeburg and (2) the late Permian Kupferschiefer mining area of the Sangerhausen Depression, Saxony-Anhalt. This material is compared to finds from the late Permian Cornberg Sandstone, Hesse and the Early Triassic tracksite of Britten, Saarland. Furthermore, the uppermost Rotliegend to basal Zechstein deposits exposed near Morungen close to Sangerhausen were studied in detail to clarify the depositional environment of the associated footprint finds. In terms of imprint proportions, morphology and size, the Procolophonichnium from the Sangerhausen area is similar to the Mammendorf Procolophonichnium specimens but different from the Cornberg and Britten samples. The trackway patterns of most Mammendorf specimens differ notably from the rest of the sample in their high (normalized) pace length and gauge width, implying a track producer with a different walking style. According to our documentation of the inactive quarry Morungen, the abundant Procolophonichnium finds from nearby spoil tips come from fluvial units that overlie the marine Zechstein conglomerate and underlie a sandy black shale, which is interpreted as the deep-water equivalent of the third cycle of the Kupferschiefer in the typical Zechstein basin facies. Consequently, the track-bearing sandstones are terrestrial equivalents of the lower part of the marine Kupferschiefer. The occurrence of footprints made by non-marine reptiles is probably related to the temporary persistence of an island in the rapidly flooded Zechstein Sea.