A walk in the maze: variation in Late Jurassic tridactyl dinosaur tracks from the Swiss Jura Mountains (NW Switzerland).

ABSTRACT:

Background

Minute to medium-sized (footprint length (FL) less than 30 cm) tridactyl dinosaur tracks are the most abundant in the Late Jurassic tracksites of Highway A16 (Reuchenette Formation, Kimmeridgian) in the Jura Mountains (NW Switzerland). During excavations, two morphotypes, one gracile and one robust, were identified in the field. Furthermore, two large-sized theropod ichnospecies (Megalosauripus transjuranicus and Jurabrontes curtedulensis) and an ornithopod-like morphotype (Morphotype II) have recently been described at these sites.

Methods

The quality of morphological preservation (preservation grade), the depth of the footprint, the shape variation, and the footprint proportions (FL/footprint width (FW) ratio and mesaxony) along the trackways have

SUBMITTER: Castanera D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5885975 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature