Genus
Ichnogenus Formal taxon Extinct

Tyrannosauripus

Lockley and Hunt 1994

Tyrannosauripus is an ichnogenus of dinosaur footprint. It was discovered by geologist Charles "Chuck" Pillmore in 1983 and formally described by Martin Lockley and Adrian Hunt in 1994. This fossil footprint from northern New Mexico is 96 cm long and given its Late Cretaceous age, it very likely belonged to the giant theropod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex. In 2016 the size of this individual was estimated at 11.4 meters and 5.8-6.9 tonnes. Similar tridactyl dinosaur tracks in North America were discovered earlier and named Tyrannosauropus in 1971, but they were later recognized as hadrosaurid tracks and their description deemed inadequate, with Tyrannosauropus regarded as a nomen dubium. True footprints likely from Tyrannosaurus would not be found until the discovery of Tyrannosauripus. In 2007, a large tyrannosaurid track was found also in eastern Montana. In 2016, a probable fossil trackway of Tyrannosaurus was discovered in Wyoming.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
2
Group
Dinosaures
Carnivore Ground dwelling, solitary Terrestrial
Tyrannosauripus
click to enlarge
Tyrannosauripus pillmorei, probable Tyrannosaurus footprint from w:Philmont Scout Ranch, New Mexico © Rufous-crowned Sparrow · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Theropoda Unranked clade
Neotheropoda Unranked clade
Averostra Unranked clade
Tetanurae Unranked clade
Coelurosauria Unranked clade
Tyrannosauroidea Superfamily
Tyrannosauridae Family
Tyrannosauripodidae Unranked clade
Tyrannosauripus Genus
Fossil sites 2 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
1
🇺🇸 United States
1
Geological formations
Hekou
1
Raton
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
1
Aptian (121.4–113.2 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Tyrannosauripus pillmorei 72 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
M. G. Lockley and A. P. Hunt. 1994. A track of the giant theropod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus from close to the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, northern New Mexico. Ichnos 3:213-218 DOI ↗
Bibliography (2)
L. Xing, K. Niu, and M. G. Lockley, H. Klein, A. Romilio, W. S. Persons, S. L. Brusatte. 2019. A probable tyrannosaurid track from the Upper Cretaceous of southern China. Science Bulletin 64(16):1136-1139 DOI ↗
M. G. Lockley and A. P. Hunt. 1994. A track of the giant theropod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus from close to the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, northern New Mexico. Ichnos 3:213-218 DOI ↗