Dinosaur Tracks from the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Arches National Park, Utah
Lockley M, White D, Kirkland J, Santucci VL. 2004. Dinosaur Tracks from the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Arches National Park, Utah. Ichnos. 11:285-293
The seventh and largest known dinosaur tracksite from the Cedar Mountain Formation is reported from two important stratigraphic levels in the Ruby Ranch Member within the boundaries of Arches National Park. Previous reports of sites with a few isolated tracks are of limited utility in indicating the fauna represented by track makers. The Arches site reveals evidence of several theropod morphotypes, including a possible match for the coelurosaur Nedcolbertia and an apparently didactyl Utahraptor-like dromeosaurid. Sauropod tracks indicate a wide-gauge morphotype (cf. Brontopodus). Ornithischian tracks suggest the presence of an iguandontid-like ornithopod and a large ankylosaur. Dinosaur track diversity is high in comparison with other early Cretaceous vertebrate ichnofaunas, and it correlates well with faunal lists derived from skeletal remains, thus providing a convincing census of the known fauna.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Lockley, Martin; White, Diane; Kirkland, Jim; Santucci, Vincent
- Units
- ARCH
- Keywords
- Cretaceous Arches dinosaur ichnofossils
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Paleontology | Paleontology