Temporal range: Early Triassic-Early Cretaceous ~250–100 Ma
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Typical footprint form
Trace fossil classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Clade:
Dinosauria
Clade:
Saurischia
Clade:
Theropoda
Ichnofamily:
†Grallatoridae
Ichnogenus:
†Grallator Hitchcock, 1858
Type ichnospecies
†Grallator cursorius
Hitchcock, 1858
Ichnospecies
Many, see text
Synonyms
Hunanpus
Grallator ["GRA-luh-tor"] is an ichnogenus (form taxon based on footprints) which covers a common type of small, three-toed print made by a variety of bipedal theropod dinosaurs. Grallator-type footprints have been found in formations dating from the Early Triassic through to the early Cretaceous periods. They are found in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Brazil (Sousa and Santa Maria Formations) and China,[1] but are most abundant on the east coast of North America, especially the Triassic and Early Jurassic formations of the northern part of the Newark Supergroup.[2][3] The name Grallator translates into "stilt walker", although the actual length and form of the trackmaking legs varied by species, usually unidentified. The related term "Grallae" is an ancient name for the presumed group of long-legged wading birds, such as storks and herons. These footprints were given this name by their discoverer, Edward Hitchcock, in 1858.[2]
Grallator footprints are characteristically three-toed (tridactyl) and range from 10 to 20 centimeters (or 4 to 8 inches) long. Though the tracks show only three toes, the trackmakers likely had between four and five toes on their feet. While it is usually impossible to match these prints with the exact dinosaur species that left them, it is sometimes possible to narrow down potential trackmakers by comparing the proportions in individual Grallator ichnospecies with known dinosaurs of the same formation. For example, Grallator tracks identified from the Yixian Formation may have been left by Caudipteryx.[3]
^Grallator at Fossilworks.org
^ abWeishampel, D. B. & L. Young. 1996. Dinosaurs of the East Coast. The Johns Hopkins University Press
^ abXing Li-da, Harris, J. D., Feng Xiang-yang, and Zhang Zhi-jun. (2009). "Theropod (Dinosauria: Saurischia) tracks from Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation at Sihetun Village, Liaoning Province, China and possible track makers." Geological Bulletin of China, 28(6): 705–712.
Grallator ["GRA-luh-tor"] is an ichnogenus (form taxon based on footprints) which covers a common type of small, three-toed print made by a variety of...
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forelimb elements (especially humeri), pelvises and skulls. Bathornis grallator is known from a mostly complete skeleton, including the skull, bearing...
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family Rhamphocottidae, the grunt sculpins. Its only species is Ereunias grallator which is a bathydemersal species found at depths of around 500 m (1,600 ft)...
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belonged to a theropod like Dilophosaurus. He named the new ichnospecies Grallator (Eubrontes) soltykovensis based on them, with a cast of footprint MGIW 1560...
slime making them inedible to other species. The tripodfish (Bathypterois grallator), a species of spiderfish, uses its fin extensions to "stand" on the bottom...
in animal behavior (1984), studying the Happy-face Spider, Theridion grallator. After attaining his Ph.D., Gon worked for a year in the Entomology Department...
Ephippidae) are also capable of walking along the sea floor. Bathypterois grallator, also known as a "tripodfish", stands on three fins on the bottom of the...
pectoral and pelvic fins. In the case of the tripodfish, Bathypterois grallator, these fins are three times as long as the body — up to a meter in length...
phylogenetic affinities of the middle Eocene North American Bathornis grallator —one of the best represented, albeit least known Paleogene cariamiform...
terminal Cretaceous and the extinction of the dinosaurs. Palynodinium grallator was among the microfossils which lead to the recent discovery of the K/Pg...
phylogenetic affinities of the middle Eocene North American Bathornis grallator—one of the best represented, albeit least known Paleogene cariamiform...
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