Age: 210-205 Million Years Ago (Late Triassic/Early Jurassic)
Ichnogenus: Grallator
Species: Unknown Theropod, but likely Podokesaurus!
Locality: Durham, Connecticut
Slab Size: 15” x 15” x 1”
Footprint size: 5” x 3.3”
This is the fossilized impression of a dinosaur footprint walking through a prehistoric lake shore! Very Rare!
There’s nothing I love more than a fossil that tells somewhat of a story. For instance, take this fossil dinosaur footprint. Now this piece is special. What makes it so special isn’t so much it’s depth and clarity, but it’s the fossil ripple marks on the slate that accompany it.
Picture it... a prehistoric tropical lake, 200 million years ago. This location no longer exists and in modern times is the Connecticut River Valley. A small theropod dinosaur similar to Coelophysis is surveying the edge of the waters, leaving his tracks behind in the ripple marks left behind in the drying sediment around the shore of the lake. While we can’t be certain exactly what this animal was doing at the edge of the water, we can certainly use our imagination with a mix of common knowledge about how animals today behave around the edge of the water. Tell me what you think this little theropod dinosaur was doing at the edge of lake over 200 million years ago!
