Age: 205-200 Million Years Old (Early Jurassic)
Location: Connecticut River Valley, Massachusetts
Ichnogenus: Grallator
Species: Possibly Podokesaurus or similar
Slab Size: 17” x 14” x 1” (large slab)
Largest Track: 7” x 4”
Smallest Track: 4” x 2”
No. of Tracks: 3
This is a very impressive fossil dinosaur footprint made by theropod dinosaurs in the early Jurassic similar to/ or what very well could be Podokesaurus holyokensis. There are a thrre raised tracks, two similar in size with a much smaller Grallator at the bottom edge of the matrix.
This specimen is a raised impression, otherwise known as a “natural cast”. This process of fossilization occurs when a trace is made, quickly hardens, and is buried swiftly with fresh sedimentary deposits that harden within the true impression. Occasional when you split the rocks of this region, you can get both the positive and negative impressions. However in some cases, like this, only one side of the fossil impression survives.
The original footprints were discovered, amongst others, by a farm boy, Pliny Moody. E.B. Hitchcock, a clergyman, described the Grallator footprints and others as evidence of ancient birds. Ever since that initial discovery, the Connecticut River Valley has routinely been the site of a plethora of scientific discoveries dating back to the Late Triassic & Early Jurassic periods.
