Steganoposaurus is an ichnogenus of fossil reptile footprints. The ichnospecies Steganoposaurus belli, was erected for footprints discovered in Wyoming's Tensleep Sandstone. The find was first reported to the scientific literature by Edward Branson and Maurice Mehl in 1932.[1] This creature was originally presumed to be an amphibian, but the toe prints it left behind were pointed like a reptile's rather than round like an amphibians. The actual trackmaker may have been similar to the genus Hylonomus.[2] The ichnogenus Tridentichnus are similar footprints preserved in the Supai Formation of Arizona.[3]

Steganoposaurus
Trace fossil classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Ichnogenus: Steganoposaurus
Branson & Mehl, 1932
Hylonomus

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ "Western Traces in the 'Age of Amphibians'," Lockley and Hunt (1995); page 34.
  2. ^ "Western Traces in the 'Age of Amphibians'," Lockley and Hunt (1995); page 35.
  3. ^ "Western Traces in the 'Age of Amphibians'," Lockley and Hunt (1995); pages 34–35.

References edit

  • Lockley, Martin and Hunt, Adrian. Dinosaur Tracks of Western North America. Columbia University Press. 1999.