Genus
Ichnogenus Formal taxon Extinct

Stegopodus

Lockley and Hunt 1998

Stegopodus is an ichnogenus erected in 1998 for the second set of stegosaur tracks from the Morrison Formation. The tracks were found near Arches National Park, also in Utah. Unlike the first, this trackway preserved traces of the forefeet. Fossil remains indicate that stegosaurs have four digits on the forefeet and three weight-bearing digits on the hind feet. From this, paleontologists were able to successfully predict the appearance of stegosaur tracks in 1990, six years in advance of the first actual discovery of Morrison stegosaur tracks. Since the erection of Stegopodus, more trackways have been found, however none have preserved traces of the front feet, and stegosaur traces remain rare.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
4
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Stegopodus
click to enlarge
Life restoration of Stegosaurus stenops based on the "Sophie" specimen, NHMUK PV R36730. Digital. © Matthew Martyniuk · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Ornithischia Unranked clade
Parapredentata Unranked clade
Saphornithischia Unranked clade
Prionodontia Unranked clade
Genasauria Unranked clade
Thyreophora Unranked clade
Thyreophoroidea Superfamily
Eurypoda Unranked clade
Stegosauria Unranked clade
Stegopodus Genus
Fossil sites 4 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
1
🇲🇦 Morocco
1
🇺🇸 United States
1
🇧🇷 Brazil
1
Geological formations
Chuanjie
1
Oued El Atchane
1
Sousa
1
Temporal distribution
Hauterivian (132.6–125.77 Ma)
1
Valanginian (137.05–132.6 Ma)
1
Kimmeridgian (154.8–149.2 Ma)
1
Bajocian (170.9–168.2 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Stegopodus czerkasi 158 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
M. G. Lockley and A. P. Hunt. 1998. A probable stegosaur track from the Morrison Formation of Utah. The Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation: An Interdisciplinary Study. Modern Geology 23(1–4):331-342
Bibliography (4)
M. Oukassou, O. Zafaty, and G. D. Gierliński, H. Klein, H. Saber, M. Amzil, A. Charrière. 2023. First record of a small stegosaur footprint (cf. Stegopodus) from the ?Upper Jurassic-?Lower Cretaceous red beds of the Middle Atlas, Morocco. Ichnos 29(3-4):195–204 DOI ↗
G. Leonardi and I. d. S. Carvalho. 2021. Dinosaur Tracks from Brazil: A Lost World of Gondwana DOI ↗
L. Xing, M. G. Lockley, and H. Klein, G. D. Gierliński, Y. Ye, J. Zhang, W. S. Persons, T. Wang. 2017. First thyreophoran type tracks from the Middle Jurassic Chuanjie Formation of Yunnan Province, China. Ichnos 28(1):8-15 DOI ↗
M. G. Lockley and A. P. Hunt. 1998. A probable stegosaur track from the Morrison Formation of Utah. The Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation: An Interdisciplinary Study. Modern Geology 23(1–4):331-342