Armored Dinosaur Footprints with club-Shaped Tail Found in Canadian Rockies
A groundbreaking discovery in the Canadian Rockies has revealed the first-ever traces of armored dinosaurs possessing a distinctive club-shaped tail. The fossilized footprints, dating back approximately 100 million years, were unearthed in deposits located in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, and Northwest Alberta.
The Tale of Two Ankylosaurs
Ankylosaurs, the armored dinosaurs, are broadly classified into two main groups:
- Nodosaurids: These ankylosaurs featured a flexible tail and four fingers.
- Ankylosaurids: Distinguished by a tail resembling a mallet, these dinosaurs had only three fingers on their legs.
Did you know? Ankylosaurs’ armor was made of bony plates called osteoderms, embedded in their skin. These plates varied in size and shape, providing thorough protection against predators.
Unlike the previously identified Tetrapodosaurus borealis
, which had four fingers and was found in north America, these newly discovered traces exhibit only three fingers. This unique characteristic marks them as the first known ankylosaurid footprints globally.
Introducing Ruopodosaurus clava
The research team has named this new species of ankylosaur Ruopodosaurus clava
,which translates to the collapsed lizard with a mace
. This name pays homage to both the mountainous region where the footprints were discovered and the distinctive mace-like tail of these ancient creatures.
Pro Tip: Fossil footprints, also known as trace fossils, provide valuable insights into the behaviour and locomotion of extinct animals, even in the absence of skeletal remains.
The findings are detailed in an article published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Key contributors to the research include Victoria Arbour, from the Royal Museum of British Columbia, and researchers at the Tumbler Ridge museum and the Unesco World Geopark Tumbler ridge.
A Glimpse into the Past
While we are exactly unaware of the appearance of the dinosaur that left the footprints of the ‘ruopodosaurus’, we certainly know that it measured between five and six meters long, it was pointed and armored, and had a rigid tail or a complete mace,
Victoria Arbour, Royal Museum of British Columbia
Collaboration and Discovery
Charles Helm, scientific advisor to the Tumbler Ridge Museum, had observed several of these three-fingered footprints around Tumbler Ridge for years. In 2023, he invited Arbour to collaborate on identifying and interpreting them.
Eamon Drysdale, from the Tumbler Ridge Museum; Roy Rule, from the Unesco world Geopark Tumbler Ridge; and Martin Lockley, formerly of the University of Colorado, also contributed to the study.
Rewriting the Timeline
The footprints are dated to the middle of the Cretaceous period, between 100 and 94 million years ago. Notably, no ankylosaurid bones have been found in North America from the period between 100 and 84 million years ago, leading to speculation that these dinosaurs may have disappeared from the continent during this time.
Coexistence Confirmed
The discovery of these footprints provides concrete evidence that ankylosaurids with club-shaped tails were indeed present in North America during this period, filling a gap in the fossil record. Furthermore, the finding indicates that the two primary types of ankylosaurs coexisted in the same region during this era.
