Cretaceous anuran and dinosaur footprints from the Patuxent Formation of Virginia

R. E. Weems; J.M. Bachman

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USGS · 70019675

Cretaceous anuran and dinosaur footprints from the Patuxent Formation of Virginia

R. E. Weems·J.M. Bachman

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Abstract

Footprints of an anuran (gen. et sp. indet.), a theropod dinosaur (Megalosauropus sp.), and an ornithopod dinosaur (Amblydactylus sp.) have been recovered from the Lower Cretaceous Patuxent Formation in Stafford County, Virginia. These footprints are the first record of terrestrial vertebrates from Cretaceous strata in Virginia, and their discovery suggests that the scarcity of bones and teeth in the Patuxent probably is an artifact of preservation. The anuran trackway provides the oldest known direct evidence for hopping locomotion among these amphibians.

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R. E. Weems, J.M. Bachman. 1997. Cretaceous anuran and dinosaur footprints from the Patuxent Formation of Virginia. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70019675

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