Characichnos Explained

Characichnos (meaning "score trace") is an ichnogenus of possibly dinosaurian tetrapod footprint. It includes a single species, C. tridactylus, known from prints found in the Middle Jurassic Saltwick Formation of Yorkshire, United Kingdom.^[1]

Description

Characichnos traces were created by a "punting" tetrapod, meaning that the animal was drifting or partially buoyant in a body of water, and touching or pushing off from the ground with the feet.^[2]

Paleoecology

Other fossils from the Saltwick Formation consist of stegosaurian footprints and a caudal vertebra belonging to an eusauropod, nicknamed "Alan".^{[3] [4]}

See also

• List of dinosaur ichnogenera

Notes and References

1. Whyte . M. A. . Romano . M. . 2001 . A Dinosaur Ichnocoenosis from the Middle Jurassic of Yorkshire, UK . Ichnos . en . 8 . 3–4 . 223–234 . 10.1080/10420940109380189 . 128891012 . 1042-0940.
2. Book: Klein . Hendrik . The Triassic Tetrapod Footprint Record . G. Lucas . Spencer . 16 April 2021 . New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science . 58 . en.
3. Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607.
4. Manning . Phillip L. . Egerton . Victoria M. . Romano . Mike . 2015-06-01 . A New Sauropod Dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of the United Kingdom . PLOS ONE . en . 10 . 6 . e0128107 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0128107 . 1932-6203 . 4452486 . 26030865. 2015PLoSO..1028107M . free .