''Sauropus'' is a

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 ...

imprint. One imprint given this name may be from a sitting dinosaur, perhaps made by a dinosaur similar to ''

Psittacosaurus ''Psittacosaurus'' ( ; "parrot lizard") is a genus of extinct ceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of what is now Asia, existing between 126 and 101 million years ago. It is notable for being the most species-rich non-avian dinosaur gen ...

''. The authors of ''The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs: Faunal Change across the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary'' argue that the name should be abandoned, because the original

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

(from a slab found in Middleton, Connecticut) is "so worn as to be indeterminate", a second specimen "shows no indication whatsoever of manus impressions" and is judged to be a mix of impressions from different animals, a third specimen is "a poor but typical ''

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, wher ...

'' sitting trackway", and "all other specimens cited as examples of ''Sauropus'' (E. Hitchcock, 1858) prove to be either very sloppy and indeterminate tracks ... or good specimens of ''Anomoepus''".''The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs: Faunal Change across the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary'', edited by Kevin Padian (1988). Pag
79

References

Dinosaur trace fossils Theropods {{Theropod-stub

See also

References