Eight fossil tetrapod footprints from lake-shore deposits in the Lower Jurassic Moenave Formation at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site (SGDS) in southwestern Utah cannot be assigned to the prevalent dinosaurian (, , , , ) or crocodyliform () ichnotaxa at the site. The tridactyl and tetradactyl footprints are incomplete, consisting of digit- and digit-tip-only imprints. Seven of the eight are likely pes prints; the remaining specimen is a possible manus print. The pes prints have digit imprint morphologies and similar anterior projections and divarication angles to those of , an ichnotaxon found primarily in eolian paleoenvironments attributed to eucynodont synapsids. Although their incompleteness prevents clear referral to , the SGDS tracks nevertheless suggest a eucynodont track maker and thus represent a rare, Early Mesozoic occurrence of such tracks outside of an eolian paleoenvironment.
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11214430 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17591 | DOI Listing |
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