. New theropod and ornithischian dinosaur footprints at the Dinosaur Footprint State Reservation (Early Jurassic, Portland Formation), Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA LEPORE, Taormina, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA Figure 2 DFSR Site Map (Anomoepus prints shown in red) Figure 1 Location near Mount Tom (Ostrom, 1972) Table 1: Averages Genus Average Anomoepus Anomoepus Average Grallator Grallator Average Eubrontes Eubrontes Eubrontes FW FL (cm) (cm) FP AD 5.4-16 94 16.1 98 13.1 42-72 14.2 49 11.5 62 <15 289 16.4 296 18.5 10 to 30 12 41 10 31 >25 76 29.8 61 33.1 272 38.5 Average Anchisauripus Pr III (cm) 18 6.4 8 unavailable 12.9 1.1 8.5 1.1 10 10.5 7.5 8.5 14 ~2.5-4.0 14.2 9.9 10.7 10.9 1.9 1.4 ~2.2 1.6 1.7 1.6 24.2 26.4 26.5 ~2.0 58 7.4 3.1 ~1.3 1.4 1.9 22.3 24.6 24.5 20-35 10.3 R' (cm) P' (cm) ~1.4-1.5 4.3 3.9 2.2 >1.3<1.8 6.5 11.5 1.7 13.1 2.7 Anchisauripus 123 17.6 10.1 29 2.5 FP=Footprint Number, FL=Footprint Length, FW=Footprint Width, AD=Angle of divarication between digits II and IV, Pr III=Projection of digit III, R=Rear projection, L/W=Length to width ratio, R’=Corrected rear projection of the foot, P’=Corrected projection of digit III. 15.1 1.7 15.6 7.8 Figure 3 Corresponding eight meters of Ostrom’s map (Ostrom, 1972) A Flurry of Activity Around Previously-Mapped Eubrontes Tracks • The Dinosaur Footprint State Reservation (DFSR) site sits in the Hartford Basin in Holyoke, Massachusetts, near the Northampton, Massachusetts town line (Figure 1). It has been recognized as bearing footprints since the 1830s, when Edward Hitchcock labeled the site “the quarry in Northampton, on the east side of Mount Tom” (Hitchcock, 1836) and used the locality as the source for his type specimen of the ichnospecies Eubrontes giganteus (Amherst College (AC) 15/3; Olsen, et al., 1998). • The site is located in the lower Portland Formation directly above the Hampden Basalt, and is approximately 201 million years old, of Hettangian age. The strata are part of the Newark Supergroup, which parallels much of the northeast North American Atlantic coast. Situated in the rift lake valleys of Hettangian New England, the shallow lake associated with this deposit served as a water source for the local ecosystem, as is clear from the vast amount of bioturbation. • In summer 2005 I mapped 343 partial or complete dinosaur footprints within the southernmost quarter of the site, including the theropod ichnogenera Eubrontes, Anchisauripus and Grallator. Among the prints mapped were eight previously unidentified prints of the ichnogenus Anomoepus, representing a basal ornithischian trackmaker. The new map (Figure 2) demonstrates the abundance of animal activity. Footprint measurements were taken to aid in identification, and corroborated with average measurements described by Lull (1953) (Table 1). • 16 Eubrontes prints corresponding to four trackways were mapped. The trackways were measured to determine trackmaker velocity and whether the trackmaker was walking, trotting or running (Table 2). •The site and the rocks adjacent to it have been analyzed by several other workers. In 1972 the site was mapped partially by Dr. John Ostrom of Yale University, who noted the directionality of nearly all the Eubrontes trackways and argued the likelihood of gregarious social behavior in theropod dinosaurs (Ostrom, 1972). Tracks of Eubrontes are by far the most noticeable and largest at the site, and form the only definite footprint trackways discernable within the first eight meters, in accordance with Ostrom’s map (Figure 3). Ostrom mapped 18 Eubrontes tracks within these eight meters; four on Ostrom’s original map could not be found, and two new Eubrontes tracks were identified. Although Ostrom’s survey focused on the Eubrontes prints, his map also included four Anchisauripus trackways or individual footprints, as well as two Grallator trackways—two additional theropod ichnogenera. • Olsen et al. (1998) have also studied the footprints in the rocks exposed closer to the river. • Getty (2004) noted the presence of several Anomoepus trackways and individual footprints, including one noticeable trackway with a possible tail-drag mark. His observations and the several Anomoepus individual footprints I observed are clear indication that theropod footprints are not the only footprints located at the DFSR, contrary to what Ostrom (1972) had previously assumed. R (cm) L/W ~2 24-40 18.2 46 19.6 42 24 45 15-25 121 3.2 4.6 Table 2: Velocities Ostrom's Trackways 26 1 (31) 2 (43) 24 1 (61) 2 (76) 3 (40) 4 (51) 5 (58) 25 1 (392) 2 (153) 3 (393) 23 1 (251) 2 (263) 3 (272) Relative stride Average h length L (cm) Average L (m) Velocity (m/s) Average λ (λ/h) 23.5 19.3 21.4 0.96 x x x 33.1 29.8 29.8 29.73 1.46 2.26 2.46 1.68 38 35.1 35 36.03 1.77 1.76 2.42 1.37 39 38.75 1.9 1.45 2.27 1.19 x 26.2 x 38.5 Equations • • Footprint Length (L) to Footprint Width (W) ratio: L / W (Olsen, et al., 1998) Corrected rear projection (R′) of the foot: R′ = R * [1/cos(θ/2)] where θ is the angle of divarication between digits II and IV. (Olsen, et al., 1998) • Corrected projection (P’) of digit III: P′ = R′ / (T-R′) where R′ is the corrected rear projection of the foot and T is total footprint length. • Hip height of the Eubrontes trackmaker using two equations based on morphometric ratios that utilize total footprint length, where h is the animal’s height at the hip (Thulborn, 1989, 1990). For a footprint length >25cm: h ≈ 4.9 * footprint length (FL) For a footprint length <25 cm: h ≈ 4.5 * footprint length (FL) • Trackmaker velocity: u ≈ 0.25g0.5 λ1.67 h-1.17 where u is velocity, g is acceleration due to free fall, λ is stride length and h represents the trackmaker’s hip height (Alexander, 1976). • Stride to hip height ratio (relative stride length): λ/h = relative stride length to determine whether the animals were walking, trotting or running, where λ is stride length in meters and h is hip height (Thulborn, 1982). Acknowledgements Literature Cited Alexander, R. McN. 1976. Estimates of speeds of dinosaurs. Nature, 261: 129-130. Getty, P. 2005. Ornithischian ichnites from Dinosaur Footprint Reservation (Early Jurassic Portland Formation), Holyoke, MA. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (3, Supplement):63A. Hitchcock, E.H. 1836. Ornithichnology.—Description of the footmarks of birds, (Ornithichnites) on New Red Sandstone in Massachusetts. American Journal of Science 29(ser. 1):307-340. Lull, R.S. 1953. Triassic life of the Connecticut valley. State of Connecticut, State Geological and Natural History Survey Bulletin 81:1-336. Olsen, P.E., Smith, J.B., and McDonald, N.G. 1998. Type material of the type species of the classic theropod footprint genera Eubrontes, Anchisauripus, and Grallator (Early Jurassic, Hartford and Deerfield Basins, Connecticut and Massachusetts, U.S.A.). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 18(3):586-601. Ostrom, J.H. 1972. Were some dinosaurs gregarious? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 11:287-301. Thulborn, R.A. 1982. Speeds and Gaits of Dinosaurs. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 38:227-256. Thulborn, R.A. 1989. The Gaits of Dinosaurs. In Gillette, D.D., and Lockley, M.G. (eds.), Dinosaur Tracks and Traces, Cambridge University Press, New York, pp. 39-50. Thulborn, R.A. 1990. Dinosaur Tracks. Chapman and Hall, London, 410 pp. Above: Anomoepus (scale 10 cm). Detailed pad definition, relatively short projection of digit III, metatarsal impression in line with axis of digit III. Above: Eubrontes (scale 5 cm). Note relatively long projection of digit III. I would like to warmly thank the following individuals for their invaluable assistance during this project: Dr. Margery Coombs (UMass Amherst), Dr. Bruce Byers (UMass Amherst), Sebastian Dalman (UMass Amherst), Patrick Getty (UMass Amherst), Eric Dewar (Suffolk), Dr. Rebecca Mattison (Wellesley), Cynara Cannitella (Wellesley), Liza Mattison, Jeff Bonzek, Bobbie Douglass, Amanda Stone, David Freedman, Marlene, Andrew and Katrina Lepore. Conclusions • 38 square meters mapped, 1/4 of total site area • Cyclical lacustrine environment • 343 partial or complete bipedal dinosaur footprints • Individual prints with no apparent preferred orientation, excluding Eubrontes tracks • Tracks that could be accurately identified to the genus level include the theropod ichnogenera Eubrontes, Anchisauripus and Grallator. Eight of the prints are Anomoepus, representing a basal ornithischian. • A new map (Figure 1) demonstrates the abundance of identifiable footprints previously overlooked due to poor preservation • The new map shows the spatial relationship between Eubrontes and non-Eubrontes tracks • 16 Eubrontes tracks corresponding to four trackways, velocities ranging from 1.45 to 2.26 meters per second (5.22 to 8.14 kilometers per hour), indicating walking trackmakers • Demonstrates the ecological diversity represented at this site • Site is badly weathered due to visitor traffic, exposure, weathering of undertracks •Further exploration of this site will undoubtedly uncover a great deal more of the ecological and behavioral picture of dinosaurian taxa in the Early Jurassic strata of Massachusetts
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