trace fossil

As happens in the world of fossilized tracks where no bones exist, paleontologists gave the trackways a specific trace fossil name, Rivavipes giganteus, meaning “the footprint of a giant bird on the river.”

Researchers also assigned to crocodile tracks a trace fossil genus and species, Anticusuchipes amnis, which roughly translates as “ancient river crocodile footprint.”

He found that a trace fossil left by a prehistoric crocodile “was repeatedly driven over,” resulting in fractures.

It wasn’t until 2017, when an international conference of trace fossil experts gathered in Taipei, Taiwan, that Löwemark and colleagues were able to compare notes.

“The fact that nobody had seen something similar convinced us that this is a new trace fossil species,” Löwemark says.