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Connecticut River Valley Trackways
The Connecticut River Valley trackways are the fossilised footprints of a number of Early Jurassic dinosaurs or other archosauromorphs from the sandstone beds of Massachusetts and Connecticut. The finding has the distinction of being among the first known discoveries of dinosaur remains in North America. A farm boy, Pliny Moody, came across the trackways in 1802. They were popularly regarded as bird footprints and they were so identified by the professor of natural history, later president, at Amherst College Edward Hitchcock, beginning in 1836 in articles in the American Journal of Science and in his final work '' Ichnology of New England'' (1858). Later, they were of significance to the naturalist and supporter of Darwin, Thomas Huxley. Huxley believed that birds evolved from an ancestral ratite, and the large Massachusetts tracks seemed to support this. However, when '' Archaeopteryx'' was discovered in 1861 it became apparent that the Connecticut River remains could not be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Jurassic
The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, 201.3 Ma (million years ago), and ends at the start of the Middle Jurassic 174.1 Ma. Certain rocks of marine origin of this age in Europe are called "Lias Group, Lias" and that name was used for the period, as well, in 19th-century geology. In southern Germany rocks of this age are called Black Jurassic. Origin of the name Lias There are two possible origins for the name Lias: the first reason is it was taken by a geologist from an England, English quarryman's dialect pronunciation of the word "layers"; secondly, sloops from north Cornwall, Cornish ports such as Bude would sail across the Bristol Channel to the Vale of Glamorgan to load up with rock from coastal limestone quarries (lias limestone from S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grallator
''Grallator'' GRA-luh-tor"is an ichnogenus (form taxon based on footprints) which covers a common type of small, three-toed print made by a variety of bipedal theropod dinosaurs. ''Grallator''-type footprints have been found in formations dating from the Early Triassic through to the early Cretaceous periods. They are found in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Brazil ( Sousa and Santa Maria Formations) and China,''Grallator'' at Fossilworks.org but are most abundant on the east coast of North America, especially the Triassic and Early Jurassic formations of the northern part of the Newark Supergroup.Weishampel, D.B. & L. Young. 1996. Dinosaurs of the East Coast. The Johns Hopkins University Press Li-da, Harris, J.D., Xiang-yang, and Zhi-jun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scutellosaurus
''Scutellosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of thyreophoran ornithischian dinosaur that lived approximately 196 million years ago during the early part of the Jurassic Period in what is now Arizona, USA. It is classified in Thyreophora, the armoured dinosaurs; its closest relatives may have been ''Emausaurus'' and ''Scelidosaurus'', another armored dinosaur which was mainly a quadrupedal dinosaur, unlike bipedal ''Scutellosaurus''. It is one of the earliest representatives of the armored dinosaurs and the basalmost form discovered to date. ''Scutellosaurus'' was a small, lightly-built, ground-dwelling, herbivore, that could grow up to an estimated long. Etymology The genus name ''Scutellosaurus'' means "little-shielded lizard", and is derived from the Latin word "scutellum" meaning "little shield", and the Greek word "sauros" (σαύρα) meaning "lizard". The type and only valid species known today is ''Scutellosaurus lawleri''. The specific name honors David Lawler who collected the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithopod
Ornithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (), that started out as small, bipedal running grazers and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful groups of herbivores in the Cretaceous world, dominating the North American land. Their major evolutionary advantage was the progressive development of a chewing apparatus that became the most sophisticated ever developed by a non-avian dinosaur, rivaling that of modern mammals such as the domestic cow. They reached their apex of diversity and ecological dominance in the hadrosaurids (colloquially known as 'duck-bills'), before they were wiped out by the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event along with all other non-avian dinosaurs. Members are known from all seven continents, though they are generally rare in the Southern Hemisphere. History of research In 1870, Thomas Henry Huxley listed Iguanodontidae (coined by Cope a year earlier) as one of his three families of dinosaurs ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anomoepus
''Anomoepus'' is the name assigned to several fossil footprints first reported from Early Jurassic beds of the Connecticut River Valley, Massachusetts, USA in 1802. All four feet have left impressions. The smaller forefeet have five toes, whereas the larger hind feet have three toes. There is also an impression which might indicate where the creature rested. The footprints were discovered, amongst others, by a farm boy, Pliny Moody. E.B. Hitchcock, a clergyman, described the ''Anomoepus'' footprints and others as evidence of ancient birds. They have since been identified as belonging to a dinosaur, probably an ornithischian, as indicated by the number of toes and the absence of claws on the rear digits. Trackways assigned to ''Anomoepus'' from Western Australia, Poland and Czech Republic have also been described. ''Anomoepus'' is the name of the footprint, not of the dinosaur, the identity of which remains unknown. Ichnospecies *'' A. scambus'' Hitchcock, 1848 *'' A. ranivorus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plateosaurus
''Plateosaurus'' (probably meaning "broad lizard", often mistranslated as "flat lizard") is a genus of plateosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, around 214 to 204 million years ago, in what is now Central and Northern Europe. ''Plateosaurus'' is a basal (early) sauropodomorph dinosaur, a so-called "prosauropod". The type species is ''Plateosaurus trossingensis''; before 2019, that honor was given to ''Plateosaurus engelhardti'', but it was ruled as undiagnostic (i.e. indistinguishable from other dinosaurs) by the ICZN. Currently, there are three valid species; in addition to ''P. trossingensis'', ''P. longiceps'' and ''P. gracilis'' are also known. However, others have been assigned in the past, and there is no broad consensus on the species taxonomy of plateosaurid dinosaurs. Similarly, there are a plethora of synonyms (invalid duplicate names) at the genus level. Discovered in 1834 by Johann Friedrich Engelhardt and described three years later by Herma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prosauropod
Sauropodomorpha ( ; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal, and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. The ''prosauropods,'' which preceded the sauropods, were smaller and were often able to walk on two legs. The sauropodomorphs were the dominant terrestrial herbivores throughout much of the Mesozoic Era, from their origins in the Late Triassic (approximately 230 Ma) until their decline and extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. Description Sauropodomorphs were adapted to browsing higher than any other contemporary herbivore, giving them access to high tree foliage. This feeding strategy is supported by many of their defining characteristics, such as: a light, tiny skull on the end of a long neck (with ten or more elongated cervical vertebrae) a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otozoum
''Otozoum'' ("giant animal") is an extinct ichnospecies of fossilized sauropodomorph dinosaur footprints and other markings in sandstones. They were made by heavy, bipedal animals (probably dinosaurs) with a short stride that walked on four toes directed forward. ''Otozoum'' tracks were discovered by American paleontologist Edward Hitchcock, who described ''Otozoum'' as the "most extraordinary track yet brought to light in this valley Connecticut_River.html" ;"title="he Connecticut River">he Connecticut Riverrepresenting a bipedal animal... distinguished from all others... in the sandstone of New England". The ichnogenus was named by him in 1847, after the giant Otus (mythology), Otus.Hitchcock, Edward, 1847, "Description of two new species of fossil footmarks found in Massachusetts and Connecticut, or of the animals that made them", ''American Journal of Science and Arts Series 2'', 4(3): 46-57 In 1953, Yale University paleontologist Richard Swann Lull revised Hitchcock's work, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gigandipus
''Gigandipus'' is an ichnogenus of theropod dinosaur footprint. It is known from the Norian- Cenomanian and it is most well known from the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site (Moenave Formation) of Utah, where it was likely the apex predator. See also * List of dinosaur ichnogenera This list of dinosaur ichnogenera is a comprehensive listing of all ichnogenera that have been attributed to dinosaurs, excluding class Aves ( birds, both living and those known only from fossils) and purely vernacular terms. The list includes a ... References Dinosaur trace fossils Theropods {{Theropod-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dilophosaurus
''Dilophosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of theropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now North America during the Early Jurassic, about 193 million years ago. Three skeletons were discovered in northern Arizona in 1940, and the two best preserved were collected in 1942. The most complete specimen became the holotype of a new species in the genus ''Megalosaurus'', named ''M. wetherilli'' by Samuel P. Welles in 1954. Welles found a larger skeleton belonging to the same species in 1964. Realizing it bore crests on its skull, he assigned the species to the new genus ''Dilophosaurus'' in 1970, as ''Dilophosaurus wetherilli''. The genus name means "two-crested lizard", and the species name honors John Wetherill, a Navajo councilor. Further specimens have since been found, including an infant. Footprints have also been attributed to the animal, including resting traces. Another species, ''Dilophosaurus sinensis'' from China, was named in 1993, but was later found to belong to the ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eubrontes
''Eubrontes'' is the name of fossilised dinosaur footprints dating from the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. They have been identified from France, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Australia (Queensland), USA, India and China. ''Eubrontes'' is the name of the footprints, identified by their shape, and not of the genus or genera that made them, which is as yet unknown but is presumed to be similar to ''Coelophysis'' or ''Dilophosaurus''. They are most famous for their discovery in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts in the early 19th century. They, among other footprints, were the first known non-avian dinosaur tracks to be discovered in North America, though they were initially thought to have been made by large birds. Discovery and identity The footprints were first described by Edward Hitchcock, a professor of Amherst College, who thought they were made by a large bird. He originally assigned them to ichnotaxon ''Ornithichnites'' in 1836, then ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
