Dinosaur Footprints from the Dakota Group of Eastern Colorado

Abstract

Dinosaur footprints from the Dakota Group In eastern Colorado are known from at least eight different locations but are essentially undocumented, and unprotected. Detailed analysis reveals that trackways from two sites include front foot (manus) impressions of ornithopods, which are probably the most distinctive yet described The tracks shed light on the morphology and gait of large ornithopods, which were probably of iguanodontid affinity The tracks can be assigned to the ichnogenus Caririchnium which also occurs in South America The lack of skeletal remains in the Dakota Group and the good quality of many tracks suggests that footprints should be examined more care- fully for the useful paleoecologic census information they provide in some cases they may be used for local stratigraphic correlation.