Illustration of Chelichnus, the first kind of fossil footprint to be studied by scientists. It was originally thought to have been left by a
tortoise, but is now attributed to an
evolutionary precursor to mammals.
The 19th century in ichnology refers to advances made between the years
1800 and
1899 in the scientific study of
trace fossils, the preserved record of the
behavior and
physiological processes of ancient life forms, especially
fossil footprints. The 19th century was notably the first century in which fossil footprints received scholarly attention. British
paleontologistWilliam Buckland performed the first true scientific research on the subject during the early
1830s.[1]
A slab of
Permian-aged
sandstone had been discovered in Scotland which preserved a series of unusual footprints. After acquiring the specimen, Buckland experimented with modern animals to ascertain the trackmaker and concluded that the Scottish footprints were made by
tortoises.[1] Later in the century famed advocate of evolution
Thomas Henry Huxley would refute this attribution and these footprints, called Chelichnus, would remain without an identified trackmaker until scientists recognized that they were actually made by an evolutionary
precursor to mammals.[2]
The 1830s also saw the discovery and investigation of unusual
hand-shaped footprints from
Triassic rocks in
Germany that were later named Chirotherium. The identification of the Chirotherium trackmaker proved elusive and suggestions from researchers included everything from
monkeys to giant
toads and
kangaroos.[3]Chirotherium proved to be an enduring ichnological mystery that would not be solved until long into the 20th century.[4]
Some of the most important ichnological research of the 19th century occurred across the
Atlanticin theUnited States.
Dinosaur footprints were first discovered there in
1802 when a
Massachusetts farm boy stumbled upon
bird-like footprints in sandstone that the local
clergy mistakenly attributed to the
raven that
Noah released from his
ark during the
Biblical Flood.[5] The region's footprints came to the attention of scholars during the mid 1830s when further bird-like dinosaur tracks were discovered elsewhere
in the state. These became the lifelong preoccupation of prominent ichnologist
Edward Hitchcock. Hitchcock thought the tracks were made by giant
flightless birds.[6]
Late in the 19th century prisoners
in Nevada discovered a major
Ice Age track site at what was once an ancient
lake shore. Many of the trackmakers were familiar animals like
mammoths or even more modern animals like
deer and
wolves, but this track site also seemed to preserve the tracks of a
sandal-wearing
giant.[7] The tracks received significant scholarly and popular attention like satire by
Mark Twain who attributed the giant tracks to primitive Nevadan legislators. However, the true identity of the "giant" trackmaker was recognized by paleontologists
Joseph Le Conte and
Othniel Charles Marsh as a giant
ground sloth, possibly of the genus Mylodon.[8]
Spring: A boy named Pliny Moody uncovered a piece of
sandstone with mysterious three-toed tracks about 30 cm (1 foot) long while plowing in his father's fields near
South Hadley, Massachusetts. The local clergy thought the tracks had been left by the
raven that
Noah sent out from the
ark to look for dry land during the
Biblical Flood.[5]
A slab of
Permian sandstone preserving 24 small footprints came into the possession of the
Scottish Reverend
Henry Duncan. Duncan visited the quarry where his slab was originally excavated in
Corncockle Muir to see if he could find more of the fascinating impressions and successfully recovered more of them. He notified leading paleontologist
William Buckland of
Oxford University about his discovery.[9]
Buckland published the first scientific description of fossil footprints about the tracks discovered at Corncockle Muir. He attributed the footprints to ancient
tortoises because after having various modern reptiles walk over stretches of
pie crust
dough, the tracks left by tortoises most closely resembled those from the Permian sandstone.[11]
A man named
Helmut Barth was building a garden house in
Hildburghausen, Germany when he discovered strange, hand-shaped tracks in the sandstone he was using in the construction.[12] Barth's discovery would be named Chirotherium by
Johan Jacob Kaup.[13]
While the streets of
Greenfield, Massachusetts were being paved, locals noticed footprints impressed in the stone. The townspeople thought the tracks were left by
turkeys.[5] They informed James Deane, a local doctor and naturalist about the footprints. Deane found the tracks intriguing and wrote to another local scholar,
Edward B. Hitchcock about the find.[14] Hitchcock spent the rest of the summer investigating the local footprints fossils.[15]
A man surnamed Cotta wrote a letter including the first documented mention of the many Permian tracks preserved in the "
Rotliegendes" of central Germany's
Thuringian Forest.[19] "Rotliegendes" is German for "red layers" referring to a Permian sandstone layer rich in rusted
iron minerals known elsewhere as the "New Red Sandstone".[20] The tracks Cotta reported were later named Saurichnites cottae in his honor.[19]
Sir William Jardine argued against Owen's referral of the Corncockle Muir "tortoise" footprints to Testudo because the name applied to a specific group of modern
turtles rather than to footprints. He coined the name Chelichnus, meaning "turtle track" to replace Owen's use of Testudo, but preserved the specific epithet "duncani".[11]
Beckles continued to publish research on the dinosaur footprints from the Wealden, referring to them as Ornithoidichnites following the nomenclature devised by Edward Hitchcock for some American tracks. Despite his use of a term implying an avian trackmaker, Beckles admitted that he did not know what kind of animals made the tracks.[23]
Edward Hitchcock published a summary of his research into the fossil footprints of the
Connecticut Valley area. He continued to attribute the tracks to large flightless birds that he named their footprints "ornithichnites", meaning "stone bird footprints". He divided the trackmakers into two groups, the leptodactylous birds with narrow toes and the pachydactylous birds with thick toes. He also described seven new ichnospecies for the tracks he studied.[16] He also described the ichnogenus Grallator.[24]
A posthumous "supplement" to Hitchcock's monograph on the Connecticut Valley tracks was published.[27]
1860: Some English dinosaur footprints were recognized as Iguanodon tracks. They were the first dinosaur tracks to be recognized as belonging to an individual genus.[18]
Thomas Henry Huxley argued against Buckland and Owen's attribution of Chelichnus duncani to ancient tortoises, instead concluding that it was impossible to identify the trackmaker with the knowledge of time.[22]
Some Welsh dinosaur tracks that had been previously displayed in front of the Jolly Sailor inn in
Newton were acquired by the
Cardiff Museum.[28]
T. H. Thomas reported the Welsh dinosaur footprints to the scientific literature and noted their similarity to the "Ornithichnites" of Connecticut.[28]
W. J. Sollas independently published a report of the Welsh dinosaur footprints.[28]
Inmates of
Nevada State Prison uncovered a large
Pleistocene fossil track site while excavating sandstone. The track sites was a
lakeshore 50,000 years ago where familiar
Ice Age animals like birds,
deer,
mammoths, and
wolves left behind their footprints. However, ten of the roughly 50 trails seemed to have been left by an even stranger trackmaker; a sandaled
giant.[7]
George Le Mesle and Pierre Peron discovered dinosaur footprints in Algeria. These were the first fossil dinosaur tracks to be discovered in Africa.[29]
Large
theropod footprints were reported in
Late Jurassic rocks at
Cabo Mondego,
Portugal. These may have been the first European Late Jurassic dinosaur footprints to be documented in the scientific literature.~152~
W. P. Blake reported the fossil footprints discovered at the prison in
Carson City, Nevada to the scientific literature.[30]
Mark Twain wrote the satirical "The Carson Fossil Footprints" attributing the purported giant tracks discovered there to primitive members of the
territorial legislature.[31]
A geology professor named
James A. Mitchell discovered some small Grallator tracks in the Late Triassic
Gettysburg Formation of
Maryland. These are the first and only known dinosaur tracks in the state.[38]
Moore, Randy (2014). Dinosaurs by the Decades: A Chronology of the Dinosaur in Science and Popular Culture. Santa Barbara: Greenwood. p. 472.
ISBN978-0-313-39364-8.
Illustration of Chelichnus, the first kind of fossil footprint to be studied by scientists. It was originally thought to have been left by a
tortoise, but is now attributed to an
evolutionary precursor to mammals.
The 19th century in ichnology refers to advances made between the years
1800 and
1899 in the scientific study of
trace fossils, the preserved record of the
behavior and
physiological processes of ancient life forms, especially
fossil footprints. The 19th century was notably the first century in which fossil footprints received scholarly attention. British
paleontologistWilliam Buckland performed the first true scientific research on the subject during the early
1830s.[1]
A slab of
Permian-aged
sandstone had been discovered in Scotland which preserved a series of unusual footprints. After acquiring the specimen, Buckland experimented with modern animals to ascertain the trackmaker and concluded that the Scottish footprints were made by
tortoises.[1] Later in the century famed advocate of evolution
Thomas Henry Huxley would refute this attribution and these footprints, called Chelichnus, would remain without an identified trackmaker until scientists recognized that they were actually made by an evolutionary
precursor to mammals.[2]
The 1830s also saw the discovery and investigation of unusual
hand-shaped footprints from
Triassic rocks in
Germany that were later named Chirotherium. The identification of the Chirotherium trackmaker proved elusive and suggestions from researchers included everything from
monkeys to giant
toads and
kangaroos.[3]Chirotherium proved to be an enduring ichnological mystery that would not be solved until long into the 20th century.[4]
Some of the most important ichnological research of the 19th century occurred across the
Atlanticin theUnited States.
Dinosaur footprints were first discovered there in
1802 when a
Massachusetts farm boy stumbled upon
bird-like footprints in sandstone that the local
clergy mistakenly attributed to the
raven that
Noah released from his
ark during the
Biblical Flood.[5] The region's footprints came to the attention of scholars during the mid 1830s when further bird-like dinosaur tracks were discovered elsewhere
in the state. These became the lifelong preoccupation of prominent ichnologist
Edward Hitchcock. Hitchcock thought the tracks were made by giant
flightless birds.[6]
Late in the 19th century prisoners
in Nevada discovered a major
Ice Age track site at what was once an ancient
lake shore. Many of the trackmakers were familiar animals like
mammoths or even more modern animals like
deer and
wolves, but this track site also seemed to preserve the tracks of a
sandal-wearing
giant.[7] The tracks received significant scholarly and popular attention like satire by
Mark Twain who attributed the giant tracks to primitive Nevadan legislators. However, the true identity of the "giant" trackmaker was recognized by paleontologists
Joseph Le Conte and
Othniel Charles Marsh as a giant
ground sloth, possibly of the genus Mylodon.[8]
Spring: A boy named Pliny Moody uncovered a piece of
sandstone with mysterious three-toed tracks about 30 cm (1 foot) long while plowing in his father's fields near
South Hadley, Massachusetts. The local clergy thought the tracks had been left by the
raven that
Noah sent out from the
ark to look for dry land during the
Biblical Flood.[5]
A slab of
Permian sandstone preserving 24 small footprints came into the possession of the
Scottish Reverend
Henry Duncan. Duncan visited the quarry where his slab was originally excavated in
Corncockle Muir to see if he could find more of the fascinating impressions and successfully recovered more of them. He notified leading paleontologist
William Buckland of
Oxford University about his discovery.[9]
Buckland published the first scientific description of fossil footprints about the tracks discovered at Corncockle Muir. He attributed the footprints to ancient
tortoises because after having various modern reptiles walk over stretches of
pie crust
dough, the tracks left by tortoises most closely resembled those from the Permian sandstone.[11]
A man named
Helmut Barth was building a garden house in
Hildburghausen, Germany when he discovered strange, hand-shaped tracks in the sandstone he was using in the construction.[12] Barth's discovery would be named Chirotherium by
Johan Jacob Kaup.[13]
While the streets of
Greenfield, Massachusetts were being paved, locals noticed footprints impressed in the stone. The townspeople thought the tracks were left by
turkeys.[5] They informed James Deane, a local doctor and naturalist about the footprints. Deane found the tracks intriguing and wrote to another local scholar,
Edward B. Hitchcock about the find.[14] Hitchcock spent the rest of the summer investigating the local footprints fossils.[15]
A man surnamed Cotta wrote a letter including the first documented mention of the many Permian tracks preserved in the "
Rotliegendes" of central Germany's
Thuringian Forest.[19] "Rotliegendes" is German for "red layers" referring to a Permian sandstone layer rich in rusted
iron minerals known elsewhere as the "New Red Sandstone".[20] The tracks Cotta reported were later named Saurichnites cottae in his honor.[19]
Sir William Jardine argued against Owen's referral of the Corncockle Muir "tortoise" footprints to Testudo because the name applied to a specific group of modern
turtles rather than to footprints. He coined the name Chelichnus, meaning "turtle track" to replace Owen's use of Testudo, but preserved the specific epithet "duncani".[11]
Beckles continued to publish research on the dinosaur footprints from the Wealden, referring to them as Ornithoidichnites following the nomenclature devised by Edward Hitchcock for some American tracks. Despite his use of a term implying an avian trackmaker, Beckles admitted that he did not know what kind of animals made the tracks.[23]
Edward Hitchcock published a summary of his research into the fossil footprints of the
Connecticut Valley area. He continued to attribute the tracks to large flightless birds that he named their footprints "ornithichnites", meaning "stone bird footprints". He divided the trackmakers into two groups, the leptodactylous birds with narrow toes and the pachydactylous birds with thick toes. He also described seven new ichnospecies for the tracks he studied.[16] He also described the ichnogenus Grallator.[24]
A posthumous "supplement" to Hitchcock's monograph on the Connecticut Valley tracks was published.[27]
1860: Some English dinosaur footprints were recognized as Iguanodon tracks. They were the first dinosaur tracks to be recognized as belonging to an individual genus.[18]
Thomas Henry Huxley argued against Buckland and Owen's attribution of Chelichnus duncani to ancient tortoises, instead concluding that it was impossible to identify the trackmaker with the knowledge of time.[22]
Some Welsh dinosaur tracks that had been previously displayed in front of the Jolly Sailor inn in
Newton were acquired by the
Cardiff Museum.[28]
T. H. Thomas reported the Welsh dinosaur footprints to the scientific literature and noted their similarity to the "Ornithichnites" of Connecticut.[28]
W. J. Sollas independently published a report of the Welsh dinosaur footprints.[28]
Inmates of
Nevada State Prison uncovered a large
Pleistocene fossil track site while excavating sandstone. The track sites was a
lakeshore 50,000 years ago where familiar
Ice Age animals like birds,
deer,
mammoths, and
wolves left behind their footprints. However, ten of the roughly 50 trails seemed to have been left by an even stranger trackmaker; a sandaled
giant.[7]
George Le Mesle and Pierre Peron discovered dinosaur footprints in Algeria. These were the first fossil dinosaur tracks to be discovered in Africa.[29]
Large
theropod footprints were reported in
Late Jurassic rocks at
Cabo Mondego,
Portugal. These may have been the first European Late Jurassic dinosaur footprints to be documented in the scientific literature.~152~
W. P. Blake reported the fossil footprints discovered at the prison in
Carson City, Nevada to the scientific literature.[30]
Mark Twain wrote the satirical "The Carson Fossil Footprints" attributing the purported giant tracks discovered there to primitive members of the
territorial legislature.[31]
A geology professor named
James A. Mitchell discovered some small Grallator tracks in the Late Triassic
Gettysburg Formation of
Maryland. These are the first and only known dinosaur tracks in the state.[38]
Moore, Randy (2014). Dinosaurs by the Decades: A Chronology of the Dinosaur in Science and Popular Culture. Santa Barbara: Greenwood. p. 472.
ISBN978-0-313-39364-8.