Tyrannosauropus

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Tyrannosauropus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Campanian
Trace fossil classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia
Clade: Ornithopoda
Family: Hadrosauridae
Ichnogenus: Tyrannosauropus
Haubold, 1971
Type ichnospecies
Tyrannosauropus petersoni
Haubold, 1971

Tyrannosauropus is a dubious ichnogenus of tridactyl dinosaur footprint from the Campanian of the Late Cretaceous of North America. Tyrannosauropus was named for a collection of footprints discovered on the ceiling of a cave in Utah which were suggested to have been made by Tyrannosaurus and informally labelled as "Tyrannosauripus" in 1924 (not to be confused with the separate, later ichnogenus Tyrannosauripus ). [1] These footprints would later be named by Haubold in 1971 as Tyrannosauropus petersoni, and attributed to Tyrannosaurus rex. [2] However, Tyrannosauropus are Campanian in age, pre-dating the Maastrichtian age for Tyrannosaurus, and the morphology of the footprints more closely resembles those of hadrosaurid dinosaurs than those of theropods. Furthermore, in 1994 another footprint was described as likely belonging to Tyrannosaurus that matched it in both age and morphology and was named Tyrannosauripus . In the same publication, the description of Tyrannosauropus was deemed inadequate, with the holotype damaged and lost, and the ichnotaxon was declared undiagnostic and thus a nomen dubium. [3]

In 1984, large tridactyl footprints discovered at the Lark Quarry trackway from the Winton Formation, Australia, were interpreted as most similar to Tyrannosauropus and were attributed to a large theropod trackmaker as cf. Tyrannosauropus. However, due to the likely hadrosaurid affinity of Tyrannosauropus, the identity of the cf. Tyrannosauropus track maker has been re-interpreted as a probable ornithopod, and suggested to belong to the ichnogenus Amblydactylus instead, itself likely made by the genus Muttaburrasaurus . [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Tyrannosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The type species Tyrannosaurus rex, often shortened to T. rex or colloquially T-Rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived throughout what is now western North America, on what was then an island continent known as Laramidia. Tyrannosaurus had a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids. Fossils are found in a variety of rock formations dating to the latest Campanian-Maastrichtian ages of the Late Cretaceous period, 72.7 to 66 million years ago. It was the last known member of the tyrannosaurids and among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.

<i>Grallator</i> Ichnogenus of dinosaur footprints

Grallator ["GRA-luh-tor"] is an ichnogenus 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 and China, 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. The name Grallator translates into "stilt walker", although the actual length and form of the trackmaking legs varied by species, usually unidentified. The related term "Grallae" is an ancient name for the presumed group of long-legged wading birds, such as storks and herons. These footprints were given this name by their discoverer, Edward Hitchcock, in 1858.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fossil track</span> Fossilized footprint (ichnite)

A fossil track or ichnite is a fossilized footprint. This is a type of trace fossil. A fossil trackway is a sequence of fossil tracks left by a single organism. Over the years, many ichnites have been found, around the world, giving important clues about the behaviour of the animals that made them. For instance, multiple ichnites of a single species, close together, suggest 'herd' or 'pack' behaviour of that species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackways</span> Conservation park in Queensland, Australia

Dinosaur Stampede National Monument at Lark Quarry Conservation Park in Queensland, Australia is considered to be the site of the world's only known record of a dinosaur stampede, with fossilised footprints are interpreted as a predator stalking and causing a stampede of around 150 two-legged dinosaurs. This interpretation has been challenged in recent years, with evidence suggesting it may have been a natural river crossing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winton Formation</span> Geological formation in Australia

The Winton Formation is a Cretaceous geological formation in central-western Queensland, Australia. It is late Albian to early Turonian in age. The formation blankets large areas of central-western Queensland. It consists of sedimentary rocks such as sandstone, siltstone and claystone. The sediments that make up these rocks represent the remnants of the river plains that filled the basin left by the Eromanga Sea - an inland sea that covered large parts of Queensland and central Australia at least four times during the Early Cretaceous. Great meandering rivers, forest pools and swamps, creeks, lakes and coastal estuaries all left behind different types of sediment.

Amblydactylus is an ichnogenus that has been attributed to dinosaurs. The generic name, derived from the Greek words amblys and dáktylos, means "dull finger". Two species of Amlydactylus have been named: A. gethingi, which references the Gething Formation where it was found; and A. kortmeyeri, which honours Carl Kortmeyer who discovered the holotype.

Megalosauripus is an ichnogenus that has been attributed to dinosaurs. The first ever appearance of this ichnospecies is 201 - 197 million years ago during the Early Jurassic period. The last recorded appearance was 156 - 151 million years ago during the Jurassic period.

<i>Australovenator</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bohdašín Formation</span>

The Bohdašín Formation is a geologic unit of Late Triassic age, located in the Czech Republic. A small tridactyl footprint of a coelophysoid theropod or an indeterminate dinosauromorph was found around 1995 near Červený Kostelec in these strata. It was classified as ichnogenus Eubrontes. In 2011, another dinosaur footprint was discovered, this time classified as ichnogenus Anomoepus.

<i>Jialingpus</i> Dinosaur footprint

Jialingpus is an ichnogenus of dinosaur, likely a theropod. Its footprints have been found in the Feitianshan Formation, a low-energy lake formation. Holotype is SCFP-24, which was found in Late Jurassic (Oxfordian)-aged Yuechi tracksite at Huanglong, China. These footprints were found within the vicinity of those of the smaller theropod Minisauripus, meaning that Jialingpus likely hunted Minisauripus.

<i>Tyrannosauripus</i> Dinosaur footprint

Tyrannosauripus is an ichnogenus of dinosaur footprint. It was discovered by geologist Charles "Chuck" Pillmore in 1983 and formally described by Martin Lockley and Adrian Hunt in 1994. This fossil footprint from northern New Mexico is 96 cm long and given its Late Cretaceous age, it very likely belonged to the giant theropod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex. In 2016 the size of this individual was estimated at 11.4 meters and 5.8-6.9 tonnes. Similar tridactyl dinosaur tracks in North America were discovered earlier and named Tyrannosauropus in 1971, but they were later recognized as hadrosaurid tracks and their description deemed inadequate, with Tyrannosauropus regarded as a nomen dubium. True footprints likely from Tyrannosaurus would not be found until the discovery of Tyrannosauripus. In 2007, a large tyrannosaurid track was found also in eastern Montana. In 2016, a probable fossil trackway of Tyrannosaurus was discovered in Wyoming.

<i>Zhuchengtyrannus</i> Tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur genus from Late Cretaceous period

Zhuchengtyrannus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous of Shandong Province, China. It belongs to the subfamily Tyrannosaurinae, and contains a single species, Zhuchengtyrannus magnus.

<i>Lythronax</i> Genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period

Lythronax is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in North America around 81.9-81.5 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. The only known specimen was discovered in Utah in the Wahweap Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument in 2009, and it consists of a partial skull and skeleton. In 2013, it became the basis of the new genus and species Lythronax argestes; the generic name Lythronax means "gore king", and the specific name argestes originates from the Greek poet Homer's name for the wind from the southwest, in reference to the specimen's geographic provenance in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">20th century in ichnology</span>

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<i>Bellatoripes</i> Trace fossil of tyrannosaurid footprints

Bellatoripes is an ichnogenus of footprint produced by a large theropod dinosaur so far known only from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta and British Columbia in Canada. The tracks are large and three-toed, and based on their size are believed to have been made by tyrannosaurids, such as Albertosaurus and Daspletosaurus. Fossils of Bellatoripes are notable for preserving trackways of multiple individual tyrannosaurids all travelling in the same direction at similar speeds, suggesting the prints may have been made by a group, or pack, of tyrannosaurids moving together. Such inferences of behaviour cannot be made with fossil bones alone, so the record of Bellatoripes tracks together is important for understanding how large predatory theropods such as tyrannosaurids may have lived.

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References

  1. Peterson, W. (1924). Dinosaur tracks in the roofs of coal mines. Natural History, 24:388-391.
  2. Haubold, H. (1971). Ichnia Amphiborum et Reptiliorum Fossilium. Handbuch der Palaeoherpetologie Teil 18. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart. 124 pp.
  3. Lockley, M. G.; Hunt, A. P. (1994). A track of the giant theropod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus from close to the Cretaceous/Tertiary Boundary, northern New Mexico. Ichnos, 3(3): 213-218.
  4. Romilio, Anthony; Salisbury, Steven W. (2011-04-01). "A reassessment of large theropod dinosaur tracks from the mid-Cretaceous (late Albian–Cenomanian) Winton Formation of Lark Quarry, central-western Queensland, Australia: A case for mistaken identity". Cretaceous Research. 32 (2): 135–142. Bibcode:2011CrRes..32..135R. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2010.11.003. ISSN   0195-6671.