Title
Large theropod dinosaur footprint associations in western Gondwana: Behavioural and palaeogeographic implications
Date Issued
01 March 2012
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Publisher(s)
Polska Akademia Nauk
Abstract
In modern terrestrial ecosystems, the population size of large predators is low, and a similar pattern has usually been assumed for dinosaurs. However, fossil finds of monospecific, large theropod accumulations suggest that population dynamics were more complex. Here, we report two Early Cretaceous tracksites dominated by large theropod footprints, in Querulpa Chico (Peru) and Chacarilla (Chile). The two sites correspond to distinct depositional environmentstidal basin/delta (Querulpa Chico) and meandering river (Chacarilla)-with both subject to extensive arid or semiarid palaeoclimatic conditions. Although most trackways show no preferred orientation, a clear relationship between two trackmakers is observed in one instance. This observation, coupled with the high abundance of trackways belonging to distinct large theropods, and the exclusion of tracks of other animals, suggests some degree of grouping behaviour. The presence of freshwater sources in a dry climate and perhaps social behaviour such as pair bonding may have promoted interactions between large carnivores. Further, the occurrence of these two tracksites confirms that large theropod dinosaurs, possibly spinosaurids and/or carcharodontosaurids, existed on the western margin of Gondwana as early as the earliest Cretaceous.
Start page
73
End page
83
Volume
57
Issue
1
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
PaleontologĂa
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84859082542
Source
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
ISSN of the container
17322421
Sources of information:
Directorio de ProducciĂ³n CientĂfica
Scopus