Dinosaur tracks from the Carmel formation, northeastern Utah: Implications for middle Jurassic paleoecology

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Despite the rarity of vertebrate body fossils in the Middle Jurassic of North America, tracks are relatively common in several stratigraphie units including non‐marine facies of the Carmel Formation (Middle Jurassic‐Bajocian‐Bathonian) of Utah. We describe a new distinctive ichnofauna consisting of at least 60 trackways discovered at two localities in the Vernal‐Jensen area of northeastern Utah. The trackways are dominated by small‐and medium‐sized tridactyl footprints attributed to theropods. Most of the tracks are well‐preserved and evidently represent a distinctive morphotype hitherto undescribed from the Middle Jurassic or from any other strata in the western United States. We therefore describe a new ichnotaxon: Carmelopodus untermannorum ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov., representing a medium sized tridactyl trackmaker, probably a theropod that is characterized by a footprint with a 2–3–3 phalangeal‐pad impression formula rather than the normal 2–3–4. This footprint morphology suggests a theropod with a short metatarsal IV. This ichnospecies is very similar to unnamed footprints from the Middle Jurassic of England.