ABSTRACT
Several large tridactyl undertracks made by between four and six dinosaurs are preserved on a single bedding plane in the Anapra Sandstone (Late Albian, Cretaceous) at Cerro de Cristo Rey, Doña Ana County, New Mexico. Because the Anapra Sandstone is herein correlated lithostratigraphically and ichnotaxonomically with the Dakota Sandstone, it is proposed that these tracks extend the southern geographic range of the Dakota Megatracksite Complex approximately 500 km. We assign the tracks described here to the ichnogenus Magnoavipes based on morphology and age (latest Albian), although several of the tracks are larger than any published data on this ichnotaxon. Also, the presence of Caririchnium along with Magnoavipes has biostratigraphic significance and confirms the value of the ichnofacies concept.
Eric Kappus. Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968
William C. Cornell. Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968
Key Words: Dinosaur, Mid-Cretaceous, New Mexico, Tracksite, Dakota Megatracksite, Magnoavipes, Caririchnium ichnofacies, ichnofacies
Copyright: Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
- September 2003
Submission: 19 December 2002 - Acceptance: 11 June 2003
