Late Pleistocene vertebrate trace fossils in the Goukamma Nature Reserve, Cape south coast, South Africa Charles W. Helm 1,2 * , Richard T. McCrea 1 , Martin G. Lockley 3 , Hayley C. Cawthra 2,4 , Guy H.H. Thesen 2 & Joshua M. Mwankunda 5 1 Peace Region Palaeontology Research Centre, Box 1540, Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, V0C 2W0, Canada 2 African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, P.O. Box 77000, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, 6031 South Africa 3 Dinosaur Trackers Research Group, Campus Box 172, University of Colorado Denver, P.O. Box 173364, Denver, 80217-3364, U.S.A. 4 Marine Geoscience Unit, Council for Geoscience, P.O. Box 572, Bellville, 7535 South Africa 5 Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, P.O. Box 1, Ngorongoro Crater, Arusha, Tanzania Received 2 November 2017. Accepted 26 January 2018. INTRODUCTION Aeolianites are exposed along many parts of the South African coastline. Pleistocene aeolianites, or cemented palaeodunes, of the coastal environment are geographi- cally extensive, forming stacked dune deposits of calcarenite with interbedded palaeosols (Fairbridge & Johnson 1978; Murray-Wallace et al. 2010). The distribu- tion of such deposits is relatively common in mid-latitude regions (typically between 20° and 40° N and S) and they have been recorded in both hemispheres (Brooke 2001). Globally, the formation of aeolianites has been recorded under varying glacio-eustatic climate regimes ranging from intervals of sea-level stability associated with inter- glacial highstands (Roberts et al. 2008), periods of relative sea-level change at the termination of glaciation (Vacher & Rowe 1997), and under both sets of conditions (Bateman et al. 2004). Along the Cape coast, extensive early studies of aeolianite have been conducted by Siesser (1972), Hendey & Volman (1986), Martin & Flemming (1987), and more recently by Bateman et al. (2004, 2011), Carr et al. (2007, 2010), Roberts et al. (2008, 2009) and Cawthra et al. (2018). Fossil dune systems along the South African coast are sensitive barometers of fluctuations in palaeo-environ- ments and palaeoclimate, as archived in their orientation, geometry, palaeontology and archaeological content (Roberts et al. 2013). The aeolianites are composed of medium- to fine- grained sand with a high carbonate content derived from marine shell fragments. These dune deposits lithify as a result of the downward percolation of rainwater in the meteoric diagenetic zone, which mobilizes the carbonate shell component in the dune, re-depositing the carbon- ates as interstitial cement within the sandstone matrix (Flügel 2004). A preliminary ichnological ground survey of aeolianites along the Cape south coast between Witsand and Robberg, a distance of 275 km, was conducted by C.W.H. between 2007 and 2017, results of which will be published elsewhere. More than 100 tracksites were identified during the course of this survey. Such surveys can provide an independent source of palaeoecological data, and can complement information from the body fossil record. Although there may be a bias towards the preservation of the deeper tracks of larger, heavier animals, ichnofossils in aeolianites provide direct evidence of the locomotion and ISSN 2410-4418 Palaeont. afr. (2018) 52: 89–101 89 Palaeontologia africana 52: 89–101 — ISSN 2410-4418 [Palaeontol. afr.] Online only Permanently archived on the 30th of January 2018 at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa The article is permanently archived at: https://hdl.handle.net/10539/23736 — Supplementary data are available for download at the same handle *Author for correspondence. E-mail: helm.c.w@gmail.com More than 100 Late Pleistocene trace fossil sites have been identified in aeolianites along a 275 kilometre stretch of the Cape south coast. A zone of concentration of such sites exists within the Goukamma Nature Reserve, both along the coast and along the Goukamma River. These sites provide insight into the Pleistocene fauna along the Cape south coast. Features include lion trackways, multiple elephant tracksites, a long trackway most likely attributable to long-horned buffalo, medium-sized carnivore tracks, avian tracks, equid tracks at- tributable to the giant Cape horse, numerous artiodactyl tracks, and burrow traces. The ephemeral nature of the tracksites makes regular surveys of these areas desirable, along with site documentation and trackway replication and preservation initiatives. The protected status of the area offers opportunities for geoheritage appreciation. Keywords: Late Pleistocene, trackways, aeolianites, Goukamma. Palaeontologia africana 2018. ©2018 Charles W. Helm, Richard T. McCrea, Martin G. Lockley, Hayley C. Cawthra, Guy H.H. Thesen & Joshua M. Mwankunda. This is an open-access article published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License (CC BY4.0). To view a copy of the license, please visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The article is permanently archived at: https://hdl.handle.net/10539/23736 — Supplementary data are available for download at the same handle.