| Autor: |
McCrea RT; Peace Region Palaeontology Research Centre, Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada; Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada., Buckley LG; Peace Region Palaeontology Research Centre, Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada., Farlow JO; Department of Geosciences, Indiana-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States of America., Lockley MG; Dinosaur Trackers Research Group, University of Colorado at Denver, Denver, Colorado, United States of America., Currie PJ; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada., Matthews NA; Bureau of Land Management, Denver, Colorado, United States of America., Pemberton SG; Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. |
| Abstrakt: |
The skeletal record of tyrannosaurids is well-documented, whereas their footprint record is surprisingly sparse. There are only a few isolated footprints attributed to tyrannosaurids and, hitherto, no reported trackways. We report the world's first trackways attributable to tyrannosaurids, and describe a new ichnotaxon attributable to tyrannosaurids. These trackways are from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian - Maastrichtian) of northeastern British Columbia, Canada. One trackway consists of three tridactyl footprints, and two adjacent trackways consist of two footprints each. All three trackways show animals bearing southeast within an 8.5 meter-wide corridor. Similarities in depth and preservation of the tyrannosaurid tracks indicate that these three trackways were made by track-makers walking concurrently in the same direction. These trackways add significantly to previous osteology-based hypotheses of locomotion and behavior in Tyrannosauridae by providing ichnologic support for gregariousness in tyrannosaurids, and the first record of the walking gait of tyrannosaurids. |
