#trace fossils

[palaeosinensis]

Alright science art and paleo art folks go gentle on me. If I was to do these for a gallery showing I think I'd need at least a couple of weeks for research and notes alone. More if I reached out to researchers for paper access and feedback. Speculative armored invertebrates, Dickinsonia, speculative medusa, Charnia, Spriggina, Kimberella, Arkarua, & their trace fossils.

[dromaeosaurid]

Footprints attributed to ichnotaxon Cheirotherium barthi from A Guide to the Fossil Reptiles and Fishes in the Department of Geology and Paleontology in the British Museum (Natural History), 1896.

[dinodorks]

[ A wall of hadrosaur tracks within Denali National Park and Preserve. Photo by Patrick Druckenmiller. ]

"Dustin Stewart has been obsessed with dinosaurs since he was nine years old. But he never dreamed he'd grow up to study 70-million-year-old footprints in Alaska. Scientists have found dinosaur tracks in the Denali National Park before, but never anything on this scale. Stewart, a paleontologist and graduate from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), says there are thousands of newly found prints crawling up vertical walls "like Spider-Man." "Seeing that for the first time, oh, we were on the next level. Unbelievable. Everyone was excited," he told As it Happens guest host Paul Hunter. "[They were like] 'Oh, my God, look at that one; look at that one.'" Stewart is a lead author of the study that analyzed what researchers say is the largest known dinosaur track site in Alaska. He worked alongside Patrick Druckenmiller, the director of the Museum of the North in Fairbanks. The findings were published last month in the journal Historical Biology. Stewart and his team set out to learn more after hearing about the site from national park employees, who first noticed some of the tracks in 2015 on a rocky outcrop researchers have since dubbed the Coliseum. After hiking for seven or eight hours, he said they weren't very enthusiastic about what they found at first. "We were exhausted, and we were seeing there [was a] wall that had some dinosaur tracks on it. But not [as many as] we were kind of expecting," he said. However, when the sun started setting and "hit this perfect angle" on the wall, he says they saw dozens of tracks — and then hundreds, and thousands more. "Immediately all of us were just flabbergasted, and then Pat said, 'Get your camera.' We were freaking out.""

Read more: "Researchers discover thousands of dinosaur footprints in Alaska" by Muzna Erum.

[bwabbitv3s]

Terror Birds Had Raptor Talons And These Fossil Footprints Prove It!

Once the dinosaurs went extinct in the fiery blaze of the KPG impact, their avian cousins and descendants survived and thrived, with many becoming large predatory animals that specialized in holding down and tearing apart reptiles, birds, and mammals alike. One of the most iconic groups of these extinct birds of prey are the terror birds. One important aspect to their biology has just been confirmed thanks to a fossil trackway from Argentina.

[04032021]

[waidwund]

ex hard coal mine, coal coke production site – essen, germany // 08-2022  

© 2022 waidwund–photo  

[hailthedragonmaster]

hello fossil fighters nation, i present: blank FF1 vivosaur stat pages of varying sizes!

i may get to the attack pages as well, depending on my patience :']

[allosuchus]

…… He noted that trackways often show multiple species that lived together at the same time, and can reveal other information. This new trackway also shows that wide, squat ankylosaurs — sometimes described as being coffee-table-like — had a surprisingly bird-like gait, lining up left and right feet like "supermodels on a runway." He added, "This track record shows us the coffee table analogy is a little bit flawed." On the other hand, he acknowledged, there is one drawback of footprints compared to bones. "The obvious question is: What do these animals look like? All we have are the feet."

[echinoid-fossils-on-the-rocks]

Tiny mussel imprints

Sometimes I wonder how many tiny fossils, imprints of mussel or brachiopode we missing around in all the pieces of rocks, or rock matrix.

Meistens hier typisch Feuerstein Flint, brüchige gespaltene Scherben mit kleinen Muschelabrücke, teils mit Schalenmuster, aber keine art Bruch muschelig. Teils kristallisierte.

[rebornofstars]

Hello? Taps mic. The hero of Time is a fossil because his story is so old and long dead that the shape of his corpse has been filled in with sediment and calcified it and the now people can only guess what manner of creature he used to be by the shape of his bones.  I can't put the words into the story but I read a book about how in ancient Greece farmers would find mammoth bones and call them bones of giants. the bones discovered in a place with many thunderstorms were called giants, who fell in battle against Zeus. people knew and questioned the stories but they still called them gods. was that boy a hero? did he really abandon their world? hello bee? i feel like you'd appreciate this crumb without the story. i don't know what to do with it but its fun to toss around in my head. he's old. he's time. he is bones in the shape of a huddled child, but his form is so strange to us we called him a warrior, a beast, a giant, anything but a small thing huddled in the ground long ago. I'm not like babying Time the grown man, I'm thinking the story of him. Wind’s idea of The Hero of Time and the Guy that we call Time are not the same person, ok? Taps mic. Like is this thing on? Can you hear me?

oh my god. im starting a new word document

[khan-crete]

mutuals meet me in the dry creek bed to look for cool rocks

[bettergeology]

Fossilized camel footprints at a secret location in Death Valley National Park. These are probably somewhere between 10 and 15 million years old.

[drhoz]

#2784 - Ophiomorpha

Another ichnofossil, thought to be a crustacean burrow. They're generally smooth inside, and lumpy outside, where the sediment was packed in tight to support the burrow. They date as far back as the early Permian (298mya).

Unlike Zoophycos, Ophiomorpha is usually found in rocks that form from sand off beachs and in tidal sandflats, although some have been found in turbidite layers where those turbidites were well-oxygenated. We can only presume that the Zoophycos organisms are much more tolerant of low oxygen levels than Ophiomorpha. Other ichnofossils from the same near-shore rocks include Skolithos, Arenicolites, and Diplocraterion. In fact that assemblage of four ichnospecies is called the Skolithos ichnofacies, and is used to infer a shallow-water paleoenvironment.

University of Otago Geology Museum, Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand

[dinodorks]

[ Some of the approximately 75 dinosaur tracks discovered at the site. Photo courtesy of Paul Baker / Friends of Dinosaur Valley State Park. ]

"Drought has dried up part of a river in central Texas, revealing 113-million-year-old dinosaur tracks. The prehistoric footprints emerged at Dinosaur Valley State Park, which is located in the town of Glen Rose, southwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. As the name suggests, the park already protects other dinosaur footprints. But the tracks that recently emerged are usually hidden under the mud, silt and waters of the Paluxy River. This summer, however, water levels have dipped so low that the prehistoric indentations are now visible. So far, volunteers have counted 75 newly exposed footprints in the parched riverbed. “It has been another very hot, very dry year, so our researchers are trying to take advantage of the drought,” says park superintendent Jeff Davis to the Dallas Morning News’ Sarah Bahari. Two different types of dinosaurs likely made the footprints, according to park officials. One was Acrocanthosaurus, a 15-foot-tall carnivore that weighed approximately 14,000 pounds. As the gargantuan reptile walked around the area on two legs, it left behind the outline of its three-toed feet. The other was Sauroposeidon proteles, which has been the official state dinosaur of Texas since 2009. This long-necked behemoth may have measured up to 100 feet long and weighed closer to 88,000 pounds. It left behind larger, bulbous-shaped tracks that are similar to elephant footprints."

Read more: "Drought Reveals 113-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Tracks in Texas" by Sarah Kuta.

[uk-fossils]

Ceratodus Fossil Coprolites – Upper Triassic – Aust Cliff, Westbury Formation, UK – Authentic Specimen

Ceratodus Coprolite Fossils in Matrix – Upper Triassic – Aust Cliff, Westbury Formation, Penarth Group, Bristol, UK

This listing features a genuine fossil coprolite specimen, attributed to the prehistoric lungfish Ceratodus, embedded in original matrix from the famous fish, reptile, and coprolite bed at Aust Cliff, near Bristol. This site is part of the Westbury Formation, a classic Upper Triassic locality in the UK known for its rich vertebrate fossil content.

Scientific & Geological Details:

Location: Aust Cliff, Bristol, England, UK

Formation: Westbury Formation

Group: Penarth Group

Age: Upper Triassic (~205–210 million years ago)

Depositional Environment: Lagoonal to marginal marine with periodic anoxic conditions—ideal for preservation of vertebrate remains and trace fossils

Fossil Zone: Part of the Rhaetian Stage, marking the transition to the Jurassic

Notable Species: Ceratodus was a genus of lungfish, a group that still survives today in limited forms. These fish were adapted to low-oxygen waters and left behind spiral or pellet-like faecal fossils.

Morphological Features of the Coprolite:

Typically cylindrical or spiral in form

Surface texture may show subtle spiral markings (if not abraded)

Matrix may contain associated microvertebrate remains including fish scales or bone fragments

Represents trace fossil evidence (not the animal itself but its biological activity)

Specimen Information:

Discovery Date: 07 April 2025

Collected By: UKGE team members Alister and Alison

Preparation: Expertly cleaned and stabilised by Alison

Scale Reference: Shown alongside a 1cm cube for exact sizing – see photographs for dimensions and angles

What You See Is What You Get: The photos show the exact item you will receive

Authenticity: Supplied with a Certificate of Authenticity. All our fossils are 100% genuine and responsibly sourced.

Educational and Collectible Value:

This coprolite offers a fascinating window into ancient biological processes and Triassic ecosystems. It's a perfect specimen for collectors, educators, students, and anyone interested in paleobiology or the evolution of vertebrate life. Trace fossils like this are invaluable for reconstructing diet and environmental conditions of ancient species.

[johniac]

SciTech Chronicles. . . . . . .May 21st, 2025