How to translate text using browser tools
1 July 2020 A Reexamination of Dinosaur Trackmakers Based on Three-Dimensional Quantitative Data from the Lower Cretaceous Tetori Group of the Oshirakawa Area, Gifu Prefecture (Japan)
Yuta Tsukiji, Soichiro Kawabe, Yoichi Azuma
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Researchers disagree on the identity of dinosaurs that left footprints in the Lower Cretaceous Tetori Group of the Oshirakawa area (Japan). To clarify these identities, we quantitatively analyzed footprint data obtained from three-dimensional laser scanning technology. From these data, we identified six tracks belonging to dinosaurs. These six tracks were bipedal with a tridactyl morphology, which we could differentiate into large theropods (the ichnofamily Eubrontidae) and large ornithopods (similar to Amblydactylus-type). Our results indicate that the ichnofauna of the Oshirakawa site is richer than previously thought. Additionally, the cooccurrence of large theropod and Amblydactylus-type ornithopod footprints in the Oshirakawa area is the oldest in the Tetori Group (although a similar assemblage was identified in the Kitadani Formation, which is the uppermost part of the Tetori Group). Thus, quantitatively assessing dinosaur footprints using 3D digital data is an effective approach to identify dinosaur footprints.

© by the Palaeontological Society of Japan
Yuta Tsukiji, Soichiro Kawabe, and Yoichi Azuma "A Reexamination of Dinosaur Trackmakers Based on Three-Dimensional Quantitative Data from the Lower Cretaceous Tetori Group of the Oshirakawa Area, Gifu Prefecture (Japan)," Paleontological Research 24(3), 203-215, (1 July 2020). https://doi.org/10.2517/2019PR012
Received: 28 August 2018; Accepted: 30 May 2019; Published: 1 July 2020
KEYWORDS
dinosaur footprints
Gifu Prefecture
Lower Cretaceous
Tetori Group
three-dimensional data
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top