[N] 2006 Ichnogenus Anomoepus from the East Berlin Formation, Massachusetts, US
Dalman, S. (2006) Footprint morphology and biomechanics of small ornithischian dinosaur ichnogenus Anomoepus from the Lower Jurassic of Western Massachusetts. JVP 26(3) Abstracts pp.54
Multiple trackways of small ornithischian dinosaurs belonging to the ichnogenus Anomoepus were discovered in the Lower Jurassic (Hettangian) deposits of the East Berlin Formation on private land belonging to Gary Gaulin, a resident of Holyoke, MA. This new material consists of 11 in situ trackways in close proximity to each other, and 28 slabs containing small footprints and manus impressions associated with the trackways. The trackways display excellent preservation of digital pad impressions, and claw marks are discernible in some tracks. These features allow reconstruction of the pedal digits and metatarsal parts by applying osteometric analysis.
The footprints provide evidence for various locomotory behaviors in possibly juvenile, small ornithischian dinosaurs. Metatarsal and manus imprints suggest unusual quadrupedal walking in 7 trackways. The longest trackways, which consist of 10-15 pes impressions, represent variations in footprint morphology in the presence of impressed distal parts of metatarsals four and two.
The repertoire of locomotory behaviors represented in these trackways lays the groundwork for future research on small ornithischian dinosaurs. In particular, future work will address the importance of substrate effect on locomotory behavior as shown by the various body weight distributions on pes digits. These differences are detectable in the longest trackways with various stride and pace lengths. Additionally, the proximity of the trackways to one another provide possible evidence of grouping behavior previously unrecorded for the ichnogenus Anomoepus from the Connecticut Valley.