Ornithichnites
Encyclopedia
Ornithichnites is an ichnotaxon
of mammal
footprint. The name was originally used by Edward Hitchcock
as a higher group name rather than a specific ichnogenera, and thus the name does not have priority over specific ichnogenera names even if they were first identified as Ornithichnites.
Ichnotaxon
An ichnotaxon is defined by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature as "a taxon based on the fossilized work of an organism", that is, the non-human equivalent of an artifact. Ichnotaxa are names used to identify and distinguish morphologically distinctive ichnofossils, more commonly...
of mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
footprint. The name was originally used by Edward Hitchcock
Edward Hitchcock
Edward Hitchcock was a noted American geologist and the third President of Amherst College .-Life:...
as a higher group name rather than a specific ichnogenera, and thus the name does not have priority over specific ichnogenera names even if they were first identified as Ornithichnites.