Prorotodactylus

Prorotodactylus
Temporal range: 249 Ma
Trace fossil classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Clade: Crocopoda
Clade: Archosauriformes
Ichnofamily: Prorotodactylidae
Ichnogenus: Prorotodactylus
Ptaszynski, 2000
Type ichnospecies
Prorotodactylus mirus
Ichnospecies
Paleoartistic restitution (hypothetical) of Prorotodactylus mirus by Carlos Alberca.

Prorotodactylus is a dinosauromorph or pterosauromorph[1] ichnogenus known from fossilized footprints found in Poland and France. The prints may have been made by a dinosauromorph that was a precursor to the dinosaurs, possibly closely related to Lagerpeton. Fossils of Prorotodactylus date back to the early Olenekian stage of the Early Triassic, making it the oldest known dinosauromorph. Its presence during this time extends the range of the dinosaur stem lineage to the start of the Early Triassic, soon after the Permian-Triassic extinction event.[2] Prorotodactylus is the only ichnogenus within the ichnofamily Prorotodactylidae. Two ichnospecies are known, the type P. mirus and P. lutevensis.

  1. ^ Ezcurra, Martín D.; Nesbitt, Sterling J.; Bronzati, Mario; Dalla Vecchia, Fabio Marco; Agnolin, Federico L.; Benson, Roger B. J.; Brissón Egli, Federico; Cabreira, Sergio F.; Evers, Serjoscha W.; Gentil, Adriel R.; Irmis, Randall B.; Martinelli, Agustín G.; Novas, Fernando E.; Roberto da Silva, Lúcio; Smith, Nathan D.; Stocker, Michelle R.; Turner, Alan H.; Langer, Max C. (December 2020). "Enigmatic dinosaur precursors bridge the gap to the origin of Pterosauria" (PDF). Nature. 588 (7838): 445–449. Bibcode:2020Natur.588..445E. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-3011-4. PMID 33299179. S2CID 228077525.
  2. ^ Ptaszynski, T. (2000). "Lower Triassic vertebrate footprints from Wiory, Holy Cross Mountains, Poland". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 45 (2): 151–194.