The Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism (2018)

previously assigned to Laoporus and other ichnogenera were considered synonyms (Table 1). Anew type of Coconino vertebrate trackway was described by Hunt and Santucci (2001), larger than average for the Coconino with an L-shaped manus smaller than the pes and exhibiting a prominent tail drag. These characteristics seemed to mark it out as anatomically distinct from Chelichnus , but the authors were unsure whether it represented a new ichnotaxon. Notable field and laboratory investigations of the Coconino vertebrate trackways were conducted by McKee (1944), Brand (1979, 1996), Brand andTang (1991) and Brand and Kramer (1996). Brand (1979) noted that the Coconino trackways usually consisted of distinct and separate prints, some showing only toe marks, others only sole marks and some showing both toe and sole marks. In some trackways individual prints were oriented in a different direction to the trackway itself. These sideways or oblique trackways often showed clear pes impressions only while manus impressions were indistinct or absent (Brand and Tang 1991). Other trackways began or ended abruptly, without evidence that sediment slumping had disturbed the bedding surfaces (Brand and Tang 1991). Gilmore (1927b), McKee (1944) and Brand (1979) also observed that almost all the Coconino trackways displayed upslope orientations, with “downhill” tracks notable by their near-absence. The Coconino’s low-diversity vertebrate ichnofauna is now recognized as part of a widely distributed ichnofacies characterizing Permian “eolianites” in Scotland, Germany, Argentina and across the southwestern USA (Haubold 1996; Haubold et al. 1995b; Hunt and Lucas 1998; Hunt and Santucci 1998; Lockley et al. 1995; McKeever and Haubold 1996; Melchor 1997, 2001; Morales and Haubold 1995). This Chelichnus ichnofacies contrasts markedly with the Batrachichnus ichnofacies described from Permian “redbeds,” also widely distributed across North and SouthAmerica and throughout Europe (Haubold et al. 1995a; Hunt et al. 1995; Hunt and Lucas 1998, 2005; Schult 1995). Both ichnofacies are stratigraphically persistent through the Paleozoic, encompassing all Carboniferous to Permian vertebrate ichnofaunas (Hunt and Lucas 2005; Olson 1952, 1983). B. Invertebrate trackways Invertebrate traces occur rarely in the Coconino (Fig. 45). Early descriptions and systematic discussions of invertebrate ichnofossils in the Coconino were published by Lull (1918), Gilmore (1926, 1927b, 1928), Brady (1939, 1947, 1949, 1961) and Alf (1968). A later review by Braddy (1995) concluded that much unwarranted taxonomic splitting had taken place. He recognized only two ichnogenera in the Coconino, each with two ichnospecies (Table 2): Paleohelcura comprising P. tridactyla Whitmore and Garner ◀ The Coconino Sandstone ▶ 2018 ICC 589 Figure 9. Thin sections showing grain rounding within the Coconino Sandstone (from Whitmore et al. 2014).