An assessment of the Mill Canyon dinosaur track site north of Moab in Grand County, Utah by Bureau of Land Management regional palaeontologist Brent Breithaupt confirms that damage was caused to the Early Cretaceous tracks and trace fossils by a construction crew, but the damage is described as “minor”.

Trace fossils (dinosaur footprints) preserved at Moab (Utah). Picture credit: Bureau of Land Management.

Picture credit: Bureau of Land Management

Essential Repairs and Maintenance at an Important Fossil Site

The site, which covers approximately 2.3 acres contains over 200 tracks and other trace fossils recording activity around a body of water at an Early Cretaceous lake (approximately 112 million years ago). A construction crew had been employed to undertake repairs and improvements to the site including the replacement of boardwalks. Members of the public became aware of the maintenance work and reported possible damage to the fossils caused by the construction crew.

Everything Dinosaur published a blog article on reports of the damage caused by Bureau of Land Management contractors: Dinosaur Tracksite Damaged and having had concerns raised about damage to the site, it was decided to conduct an assessment of the area in order to find the best way to protect the fossils whilst still permitting public access.

This Damage to the Track Site Should Not Have Occurred

The assessment concluded that the overall damage was minor. Even so, Brent Breithaupt wrote in the report that:

“This damage should not have occurred”.

The regional palaeontologist added, that if the project had not been stopped:

“It is likely that much greater damage would have occurred with increased construction activities”.

As the Bureau of Land Management failed to consult palaeontologists on the maintenance plans, crews did not know which areas of the site to avoid. The incident was described in the report as “unfortunate” and the damage “could have been avoided”.

At least six different dinosaur tracks have been deciphered at Moab (Utah). Picture credit: Bureau of Land Management.

After the report was released, the Bureau of Land Management has confirmed that an additional environmental assessment would be undertaken, the public would be consulted and palaeontologists involved in future work at the location to supervise activities. The Bureau of Land Management reported that it “remains committed to protecting plant and animal fossils on our public lands”.

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Researchers from the Smithsonian Institute (Washington), the University of Oslo and the Ludwig Maximilian Universität (Munich), have published a paper that describes two ichthyosaur specimens from the famous Upper Jurassic Solnhofen deposits of southern Germany. The fossils, an almost complete Aegirosaurus (JME-SOS-08369) and a tail (JME-SOS183), reveal extensive soft tissue preservation, analysis of which indicates the presence of blubber in these marine reptiles.

Late Jurassic Aegirosaurus sp. (JME-SOS-08369) shown in (A) in normal light and (B) composite picture in UV light indicating location of further close-up images included in the scientific paper. Interpretative drawing (C). Note scale bar equals 20 cm. Picture credit: Delsett et al.

Picture credit: Delsett et al

These amazing fossil specimens representing marine reptiles that lived around 150 million years ago will help scientists to better understand how soft tissue can be preserved in the carcases of vertebrates deposited on the seafloor.

For models and replicas of ichthyosaurs and other prehistoric animals: Ichthyosaurs and Prehistoric Animal Models (CollectA).

Aegirosaurus

Aegirosaurus is a genus of ichthyosaur within the Ophthalmosauridae family. Its fossils are associated with the Upper Jurassic limestone deposits of Solnhofen in southern Germany. These deposits are famous for their vertebrate fossils, although ichthyosaur material is rare. Fossils ascribed to this genus have also been found in Lower Cretaceous strata in south-eastern France (Fischer et al, 2011). This discovery suggests that most Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs came through the end Jurassic extinction and continued to thrive in the Early Cretaceous.

Aegirosaurus was an active, nektonic pursuit predator, probably feeding on small fish and squid.

Picture credit: DPA

Evidence for Blubber

The nearly complete ichthyosaur skeleton (JME-SOS-08369) was excavated in 2009, whereas the second specimen involved in this study (the tail), was originally found in 1926, but not formally described. No genus has been assigned to the tail specimen, although the researchers confidently assign it to the Ophthalmosauridae.

The Late Jurassic ichthyosaur tail (specimen number JME-SOS2183) shown in (A) regular light, under ultraviolet light (B) with an interpretative line drawing (C). Note scale bar equals 10 cm. Picture credit: Delsett et al.

Picture credit: Delsett et al

Soft tissue samples were analysed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The analyses confirm the presence of the phosphate mineral apatite, with phosphate most likely derived from the body itself. In addition, a yellow-coloured, amorphous substance was identified, the researchers postulate that this substance represents decomposed blubber.

Skull from Late Jurassic Aegirosaurus sp. (JME-SOS-08369) with (A) interpretative drawing and (B) photograph. Note scale bar equals 5 cm. Picture credit: Delsett et al.

Picture credit: Delsett et al

Identifying Adipocere

The researchers conclude that the detailed analysis of the yellowish, amorphous substance indicates that it is adipocere. This is late-stage post-mortem decomposing fatty acids produced by microorganisms under low oxygen conditions. As adipocere is a typical breakdown product of animal blubber, it is postulated that these ichthyosaurs had blubber to help insulate them, just as many extant marine mammals do. The paper does not address any endothermic implications for this conclusion.

Understanding Ichthyosaur Taphonomy

The two ichthyosaur specimens with their extensive soft tissue preservation will help scientists to interpret the taphonomy (how fossils are preserved) of Solnhofen Archipelago vertebrates. Future research will focus on microscopical and geochemical analysis of different parts of the specimens that have the potential to reveal more information about tissue types.

In addition, the beautifully preserved fossils hold the potential for investigations into the locomotion of ophthalmosaurids, helping scientists to better understand how these marine reptiles moved through the water.

The scientific paper: “The soft tissue and skeletal anatomy of two Late Jurassic ichthyosaur specimens from the Solnhofen archipelago” by Lene L. Delsett​, Henrik Friis, Martina Kölbl-Ebert and Jørn H. Hurum published in PeerJ.

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Scientists have identified a trackway made by a large theropod dinosaur as it crossed shallow water, the tracks are exceptionally wide and reveal that this unfortunate predator probably had a dislocated toe.

Writing in the open access journal PLOS One, the researchers describe an exceptionally wide trackway (LH-Mg-10-16), made by a meat-eating dinosaur at a site at the Las Hoyas locality (La Huérguina Formation), in central Spain. The trackway consists of six prints (three left and three right prints) and has been interpreted as representing a large theropod dinosaur crossing shallow water, blanketed by a microbial mat.

Views of the LH-Mg-10-16 theropod trackway. Cartography done in the field (A), (B) scanned surface of the trackway, mounted from a set of colour photos. Colour ramp, showing the depths and the countours of the site (in cm). Note scale bar equals 1 metre. The cartography is reprinted from Las Hoyas a Cretaceous wetland, Gibert JM et al. under a Creative Commons BY licence, with permission from Dr. Friedrich Pfeil Verlag, original copyright 2016. Picture credit: Herrera-Castillo et al.

Lower Cretaceous (Barremian Faunal Stage)

The famous Las Hoyas site has been dated to around 129-127 million years ago (Barremian faunal stage of the Early Cretaceous). Although the Las Hoyas locality has yielded many amazing vertebrate fossils (birds, amphibians, fish), dinosaur fossils are relatively rare. Stride length calculations indicate that the theropod that produced this trackway had a hip height of around two metres. This would suggest a total body length of approximately eight metres. As far as Everything Dinosaur team members are aware, the only large theropod described from fossils associated with Las Hoyas is Concavenator (C. corcovatus).

It is not possible to determine the genus from these tracks, although the prints indicate a theropod that was either bigger than Concavenator or an exceptionally large Concavenator specimen. The known foot bones of Concavenator would have created a print, approximately half the size of the LH-Mg-10-16 tracks. This suggests that there may have been a much larger, as yet undescribed, theropod present in the Las Hoyas ecosystem.

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The picture (above) shows a Wild Safari Prehistoric World dinosaur model.

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Theropod Dinosaur Crossing Water

Sedimentary analysis indicate that the trackway was produced as the dinosaur traversed a microbial mat located on the bed of a watercourse. Marks on the surface of the substrate have been diagnosed as swimming traces of fish. The ichnospecies Undichna unisulca has been proposed, an ichnotaxon associated with the Las Hoyas site. The research team postulate that the trails were made by a type of deep-bodied bony fish (pycnodontiform), although body fossils of these fish are not common at Las Hoyas.

Undichna fish trails in Magenta LH-Mg-10-16. Fish trails (A and B) associated to the theropod footprints with interpretative line drawings (C) and (D). Lines in black trails and in red, wrinkles marks. Scale equals 10 cm. Picture credit: Herrera-Castillo et al.

A Damaged Left Foot

Detailed analysis of the trackway suggests that the “wide-steps” of the theropod are not unusual compared to other bipedal dinosaur tracks, but they do confirm that these trace fossils were made by a single individual animal.

The right footprints are more regular in shape compared to those made by the left foot. On the left foot the limited impressions made by digit II suggest that either this toe is missing or it is dislocated in some way. Birds suffer from “crooked toes”, a condition caused due to environmental factors, dietary deficits or genetics. In theropod dinosaurs it is often digit II that shows pathology including damage to the bones.

Taphonomic features of the theropod prints. Left footprints (A) and right footprints (B). The right footprints are more regular in shape whilst analysis of the left footprints suggest that this dinosaur had an injured foot. The scientists suggest that digit II of the left foot was either missing or dislocated. Picture credit: Herrera-Castillo et al.

Evidence of a Deformity or Injury

The research team concludes that despite a suspected toe injury/deformity the tracks reveal no signs of a limp. These remarkable trace fossils have captured a moment in time during the Early Cretaceous when a large, meat-eating dinosaur with a body length in excess of eight metres crossed a pool of water that was teaming with fish.

The scientific paper: “A theropod trackway providing evidence of a pathological foot from the exceptional locality of Las Hoyas (upper Barremian, Serranía de Cuenca, Spain)” by Carlos M. Herrera-Castillo, José J. Moratalla, Zain Belaústegui, Jesús Marugán-Lobón, Hugo Martín-Abad, Sergio M. Nebreda, Ana I. López-Archilla and Angela D. Buscalioni published in PLOS One.

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