Fossil trackway
Encyclopedia
Trace fossil
Trace fossils, also called ichnofossils , are geological records of biological activity. Trace fossils may be impressions made on the substrate by an organism: for example, burrows, borings , urolites , footprints and feeding marks, and root cavities...
, a trackway
Trackway
A trackway is an ancient route of travel for people or animals. In biology, a trackway can be a set of impressions in the soft earth, usually a set of footprints, left by an animal. A fossil trackway is the fossilized imprint of a trackway. Trackways have been found all over the world...
made by an organism. Many fossil trackways were made by dinosaurs, early tetrapod
Tetrapod
Tetrapods are vertebrate animals having four limbs. Amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals are all tetrapods; even snakes and other limbless reptiles and amphibians are tetrapods by descent. The earliest tetrapods evolved from the lobe-finned fishes in the Devonian...
s, and other quadruped
Quadruped
Quadrupedalism is a form of land animal locomotion using four limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a quadrupedal manner is known as a quadruped, meaning "four feet"...
s and biped
Biped
Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs, or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning "two feet"...
s on land. Marine organisms also made many ancient trackways (such as the trails of trilobite
Trilobite
Trilobites are a well-known fossil group of extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period , and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic era before...
s and eurypterid
Eurypterid
Eurypterids are an extinct group of arthropods related to arachnids which include the largest known arthropods that ever lived. They are members of the extinct order Eurypterida ; which is the most diverse Paleozoic chelicerate order in terms of species...
s like Hibbertopterus
Hibbertopterus
Hibbertopterus is a genus of giant sea scorpion that inhabited the swamps of Scotland during the Carboniferous.Hibbertopterus is a member of the family Hibbertopteridae, large bizarre Eurypterids found from the Upper Devonian to the end of the Permian period...
).
Some basic fossil trackway types:
-
- footprints
- tail drags
- belly drag marks-(tetrapods)
- chain of trace platforms–(example: YorgiaYorgiaYorgia waggoneri is a member of the Ediacara biota, and resembles a cross between the organisms Dickinsonia and Spriggina. It has a low, segmented body consisting of a short wide "head", no appendages, and a long body region, reaching a maximum length of...
) - body imprint-(Monuran trackwayMonuran trackwayThe Monuran trackway is a fossil trackway in the Robledo Mountains of New Mexico, produced by the extinct insect group called Monura, , from the Lower Permian. The monuran is a wingless jumping insect; thus the means of locomotion is jumping, then walking...
, insect)
Foot
The foot is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws...
impressions on land, or subsurface water, but other types of creatures will leave distinctive impressions. Examples of creatures supported, or partially supported, in a water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
environment are known. The fossil "millipede
Millipede
Millipedes are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment . Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one...
-type" genus Arthropleura
Arthropleura
Arthropleura was a 0.3–2.6 metre long relative of centipedes and millipedes, native to the Upper Carboniferous of what is now northeastern North America and Scotland...
left its multi-legged/feet trackways on land.
Hominid trackways
The foremost hominid trackway is the 3.7 mya Laetoli footprints of TanzaniaTanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
. The trackway is now preserved under a protective layer of earth.
Early Tetrapod trackways
The earliest land creatures (actually land-marine coastal-riverine-marshland) left some of the first terrestrial trackways. They range from tetrapods to proto-reptilians and others.Northeast North America--northwest proto-Europe
The Permo-CarboniferousCarboniferous
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...
of Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
contains trackways of tetrapods and stem-reptiles. Macrofloral, and palynological
Palynology
Palynology is the science that studies contemporary and fossil palynomorphs, including pollen, spores, orbicules, dinoflagellate cysts, acritarchs, chitinozoans and scolecodonts, together with particulate organic matter and kerogen found in sedimentary rocks and sediments...
data help date them.
Ireland hosts Late Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
tetrapod trackways from the Valentia Slate Formation. (The article discusses the history of the tetrapods, lobe-finned fish, and the ray-finned fish-(the later teleosts).
Australia tetrapods
The earliest fossil trackway of primitive tetrapods in Australia occurs in the Genoa River GorgeGenoa, Victoria
Genoa is a town in Eastern Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It is close to the New South Wales border where the Princes Highway crosses the Genoa river. The town is an important access point to the Croajingolong National Park...
, Victoria, dating from the Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
350 million years ago .
Dinosaur trackways
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
es evolved (the "Age of the Grasses" evolved with the "Age of the Mammals"); the dinosaurs lived in the Triassic
Triassic
The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
, Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
, and Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
and left many trackways, both from plant-eaters and the meat-eaters, in various layers of mud and sand.
With scientific analysis, dinosaur specialists are now analyzing tracks for the walking-speeds, or sprint-running speeds for all categories of dinosaurs, even to the large plant eaters, but especially the faster 3-toed meat hunters. Evidence of herding, as well as pack hunting are also being investigated.
Africa trackways
An example trackway from Africa is a trackway in 140 ma rose-colored sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
of Chewore Area, Lower Zimbabwe Rift Valley. The small footprint size, with both manus
Manus (zoology)
The manus is the zoological term for the distal portion of the fore limb of an animal. In tetrapods, it is the part of the pentadactyl limb that includes the metacarpals and digits . During evolution, it has taken many forms and served a variety of functions...
and pes
Pes (zoology)
The pes is the zoological term for the distal portion of the hind limb of tetrapod animals. It is the part of the pentadactyl limb that includes the metatarsals and digits . During evolution, it has taken many forms and served a variety of functions...
implies that it is a trackway of a juvenile, a probable carnosaur.
North America trackways
Western Interior Seaway
The Western Interior Seaway, also called the Cretaceous Seaway, the Niobraran Sea, and the North American Inland Sea, was a huge inland sea that split the continent of North America into two halves, Laramidia and Appalachia, during most of the mid- and late-Cretaceous Period...
, are common for dinosaur trackways. Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
has dinosaur trackways from the Late Cretaceous, 65 ma. (A model example of this 3-toed Wyoming trackway was made for presentation.)
Mammal trackways
Mammal trackways are among the least common trackways. Mammals were not often in mud, or riverine environments; they were more often in forestlands or grasslands. Thus the earlier tetrapods or proto-tetrapods would yield the most fossil trackways. The WalchiaWalchia
Walchia is a fossil conifer, cypress-like genus of Upper Pennsylvanian and lower Permian . It is found in Europe; also North America...
forest of Brule, Nova Scotia
Brule, Nova Scotia
Brule is a Canadian rural community located in Colchester County, Nova Scotia.Located on the Northumberland Strait 6 kilometres east of the village of Tatamagouche near the county boundary, the community is situated on the southern shore of Brule Harbour opposite Brule Point.-Fossils:Brule is...
has an example of an in situ
In situ
In situ is a Latin phrase which translated literally as 'In position'. It is used in many different contexts.-Aerospace:In the aerospace industry, equipment on board aircraft must be tested in situ, or in place, to confirm everything functions properly as a system. Individually, each piece may...
Walchia forest, and tetrapod trackways that extended over some period of time through the forest area.
Australia trackways
A recent marsupialMarsupial
Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America, but with thirteen in Central...
trackway site in the Colac district of Australia (west of Colac) contains marsupial trackways as well as kangaroo and wallaby tracks.
See also
- TrackwayTrackwayA trackway is an ancient route of travel for people or animals. In biology, a trackway can be a set of impressions in the soft earth, usually a set of footprints, left by an animal. A fossil trackway is the fossilized imprint of a trackway. Trackways have been found all over the world...
- Ancient trackwayAncient trackwayAncient trackway can refer to any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity. Such paths existed from the earliest prehistoric times and in every inhabited part of the globe...
- Trace fossilTrace fossilTrace fossils, also called ichnofossils , are geological records of biological activity. Trace fossils may be impressions made on the substrate by an organism: for example, burrows, borings , urolites , footprints and feeding marks, and root cavities...
External links
- Wyoming 3-toed trackways
- Zimbabwe juvenile dinosaur trackway
- Redbeds of Prince Edward Island, Permo-Carboniferous
Dinosaur trackways:
- Photo-High Res--(Outdoor photo); Article Photo from Dakota FormationDakota FormationThe Dakota Formation is a geologic formation composed of sedimentary rocks deposited on the western side of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway. F.B. Meek and F.V. Hayden named it for exposures along the Missouri River near Dakota City, Nebraska...
, Colorado, USA
Early Tetrapods:
Australia