Moyenisauropus Ellenberger, 1974

Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz, 2011, A Late Triassic dinosaur-dominated ichnofauna from the Tomanová Formation of the Tatra Mountains, Central Europe, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 56 (2), pp. 291-300 : 294

Ichnogenus Moyenisauropus Ellenberger, 1974

Type species: Moyenisauropus natator EIlenberger, 1974, Lesotho, Africa ; Upper Red Beds, Lower Hettangian .

cf. Moyenisauropus isp.

Fig. 2B, C .

Description.— Two specimens (field observations from Czerwone Żlebki) of tridactyl, 20–25 cm long, blunt−toed, and generally robust footprints with Anomoepus −like morphology were found at the Czerwone Żlebki site. Their morphology and size are strongly similar to the Early Jurassic Moyenisauropus ichnogenus ( Gierliński 1999; Lockley and Gierliński 2006). Both discovered specimens show imprints of only two phalangeal pads of digit III (see Fig. 2 ). The angle between the digits II and III varies from 20 ° to 31 °, while the angle between the digits III and IV varies from 29 ° to 45 °.

Remarks.—The ichnogenus Moyenisauropus Ellenberger, 1974 is an intriguing ichnogenus first ilustrated by Ellenberger (1970, 1972, 1974) from the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic ichnofaunas of southern Africa (see also Smith et al. 2009). Ellenberger (1974) named eight ichnospecies of this ichnogenus, which later authors have regarded as a junior synonym of Anomoepus ( Olsen and Galton 1984; Haubold 1984; Thulborn 1994; Olsen and Rainforth 2003). New observations suggest that most of the Ellenberger’s (1974) material represents typical Anomoepus footprints ( Gierliński 1991; Olsen and Rainforth 2003). There are indeed no morphological differences between Anomoepus and most ichnospecies of Moyenisauropus to distinguish them at the ichnogeneric level. However, Moyenisauropus natator (the type ichnospecies of Moyenisauropus ) is different from any anomoepodid tracks. Moyenisauropus is distinguished from other tridactyl ornitischian ichnogenera from the Jurassic in having only two phalangeal pads on pedal digit III ( Gierliński 1991, 1999; Lockley and Gierliński 2006). In Moyenisauropus the angle between pedal digits II and III, in comparison to that between digits III and IV, is usually larger than in the pes of Anomoepus ( Lockley and Gierliński 2006) . A new important occurrence of Moyenisauropus tracks was reported from the Early Jurassic of western United States ( Lockley and Gierliński 2006) and there is also some diagnostic Moyenisauropus −like tracks from the Late Triassic of Sweden ( Milán and Gierliński 2004).

Figures

Fig. 2. Tridactyl tracks (pes prints) of possibly early ornithischian dinosaurs from the Czerwone Żlebki site, Tomanová Formation (?late Norian–Rhaetian), Poland. A, B. cf. Moyenisauropus isp. C, D. cf. Anomoepus isp. A–C. Specimens left in field. D. Specimen deposited at Tatra Mountains National Park, Zakopane, Poland. Photographs (A1–D1) and drawings (A2–D2). Scale bars 5 cm.