''Otozoum'' ("giant animal") is an extinct ichnospecies of

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

ized

sauropodomorph 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 lon ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

footprints and other markings in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

s. They were made by heavy, bipedal animals (probably

s) with a short stride that walked on four toes directed forward. ''Otozoum'' tracks were discovered by American

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

Edward Hitchcock Edward Hitchcock (May 24, 1793 – February 27, 1864) was an American geologist and the third President of Amherst College (1845–1854). Life Born to poor parents, he attended newly founded Deerfield Academy, where he was later principal, ...

, who described ''Otozoum'' as the "most extraordinary track yet brought to light in this valley he_Connecticut_River.html" ;"title="Connecticut_River.html" ;"title="he Connecticut River">he Connecticut River">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 Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

paleontologist

Richard Swann Lull Richard Swann Lull (November 6, 1867 – April 22, 1957) was an American paleontologist and Sterling Professor at Yale University who is largely remembered now for championing a non-Darwinian view of evolution, whereby mutation(s) could unl ...

revised Hitchcock's work, suggesting that the track maker might have been a

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 lon ...

. Other sources have been proposed, including a crocodile-like animal (e.g. the phytosaur ''

Rutiodon ''Rutiodon'' ("Wrinkle tooth") is an extinct genus of phytosaur belonging to the family Parasuchidae. It lived during the Late Triassic period, and was about in length. ''Rutiodon'' is known from the eastern United States (North Carolina, New J ...

''), or an

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 ...

dinosaur, although recent osteological comparisons (e.g., Rainforth, 2003) support Lull's hypothesis that the track maker was indeed a prosauropod. Hitchcock noted the excellent preservation of some tracks, preserving details of the skin, pads, and even impressions of Jurassic raindrops. Excellent ''Otozoum'' specimens from the Portland Quarry may be seen in the

Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum is a state-owned natural history preserve occupying in the town of Rocky Hill, Connecticut. The state park protects one of the largest dinosaur track sites in North America. The park was created in recognition ...

Rocky Hill, Connecticut Rocky Hill is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,845 at the 2020 census. It was originally land of the Wangunks (a tribe of Native Americans). Europeans began to settle the area of Rocky Hill in 1650, as ...

References

Biology Online
*

Martin Lockley Martin G. Lockley (born 1950) is a Welsh palaeontologist. He was educated in the United Kingdom where he obtained degrees (BSc and PhD) and post-doctoral experience in Geology in the 1970s. Since 1980 he has been a professor at the Universit ...

, ''The Eternal Trail: A Tracker Looks at Evolution'', Basic Books, 2001. {{ISBN, 0-7382-0362-9. Dinosaur trace fossils

See also

References