Teratopodus

Teratopodus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, (Campanian), 83–74.5  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Trace fossil classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	† Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	† Sauropoda
Clade:	† Macronaria
Clade:	† Titanosauria
Ichnogenus:	† Teratopodus Tomaselli et al., 2022
Type ichnospecies
†Teratopodus malarguensis Tomaselli et al., 2022

Teratopodus (meaning "monstrous foot") is an ichnogenus of titanosaurian sauropod footprint. It includes a single species, T. malarguensis, known from prints found in the Late Cretaceous Anacleto Formation of Argentina. The Teratopodus tracks represent some of the best sauropod pes tracks currently known from South America. ^[1]

Description

The trackway was created by two titanosaur individuals, one of which was about 11 metres (36 ft) long, while the other was about 14 metres (46 ft) long. Analysis of the fossils shows that the dinosaurs walked from an area of humid ground to a more flooded area. ^[1]

Paleoenvironment

Layers of the Anacleto Formation

Several titanosaurs are known from the Anacleto Formation, including Pitekunsaurus , ^[2] Narambuenatitan , ^[3] Barrosasaurus , ^[4] and Neuquensaurus . ^[5] One of these dinosaurs potentially could have made the Teratopodus prints. ^[1] Remains of the ornithopod Gasparinisaura ^[6] and the theropods Abelisaurus ^[7] and Aucasaurus ^[8] have also been recovered from the formation.

See also

• List of dinosaur ichnogenera

References

1. Tomaselli, María Belén; Ortiz David, Leonardo Daniel; González Riga, Bernardo Javier; Coria, Juan Pedro; Mercado, Claudio Ramón; Guerra, Mauricio; Sánchez Tiviroli, Germán (2022-01-01). "New titanosaurian sauropod tracks with exceptionally well-preserved claw impressions from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina" . Cretaceous Research. 129: 104990. Bibcode:2022CrRes.12904990T. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104990. ISSN   0195-6671. S2CID   238695181.
2. Filippi, Leonardo S.; Garrido, Alberto C. (2008). "Pitekunsaurus macayai gen. et sp. nov., nuevo titanosaurio (Saurischia, Sauropoda) del Cretácico Superior de la Cuenca Neuquina, Argentina". Ameghiniana (in Spanish). 45 (3): 575–590. ISSN   1851-8044.
3. Filippi, Leonardo S.; García, Rodolfo A.; Garrido, Alberto C. (2011). "A New Titanosaur Sauropod Dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of North Patagonia, Argentina" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 56 (3): 505–520. doi:10.4202/app.2010.0019. ISSN   0567-7920. S2CID   62837802.
4. Salgado, Leonardo; Coria, Rodolfo A. (2009-12-31). "Barrosasaurus casamiquelai gen. et sp. nov., a new titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Anacleto Formation (Late Cretaceous: early Campanian) of Sierra Barrosa (Neuquén, Argentina)". Zootaxa. 2222: 1–16. doi:10.5281/zenodo.190129.
5. Otero, Alejandro (2010). "The Appendicular Skeleton of Neuquensaurus, a Late Cretaceous Saltasaurine Sauropod from Patagonia, Argentina" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 55 (3): 399–426. doi:10.4202/app.2009.0099. ISSN   0567-7920. S2CID   55090440.
6. Coria, Rodolfo A.; Salgado, Leonardo (1996-09-19). "A basal iguanodontian (Ornithischia: Ornithopoda) from the Late Cretaceous of South America" . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 16 (3): 445–457. Bibcode:1996JVPal..16..445C. doi:10.1080/02724634.1996.10011333. ISSN   0272-4634.
7. Bonaparte, J.; Novas, E.E. (1985). "Abelisaurus comahuensis, n.g., n.sp., Carnosauria del Crétacico Tardio de Patagonia" [Abelisaurus comahuensis, n.g., n.sp., Carnosauria from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia]. Ameghiniana. 21: 259–265 – via ResearchGate.
8. Coria, Rodolfo A.; Chiappe, Luis M.; Dingus, Lowell (2002-07-08). "A new close relative of Carnotaurus sastrei Bonaparte 1985 (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia" . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 22 (2): 460–465. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0460:ANCROC]2.0.CO;2. ISSN   0272-4634. S2CID   131148538.