Chirotheriid footprints from the lower-middle triassic of the briançonnais domain (Pelite di Case Valmarenca, Western Liguria, NW Italy)

Herein are described the first vertebrate footprints discovered in sediments of Early-Middle Triassic age of the Pelite di Case Valmarenca (Briançonnais Domain, Western Liguria, Northern Italy). The tracks are attributed to an archosaur trackmaker and assigned to the ichnofamily Chirotheriidae. The poor state of preservation has hindered ichnospecific assignment; however, the find is significant, because it allows the distribution of these archosaurs to be updated within the Triassic of Europe. Biochronologically, the footprints of the Ligurian Briançonnais can be assigned to the Biochrone II or the “Chirothere assemblage zone” indicating an early Anisian age.