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Dinosaur Footprints Reservation

January 01, 1970

This article is about a nature reserve. For fossil footprints, see Trace fossil. For their study, see Ichnology.

Dinosaur Footprints in Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA is an 8-acre (3 ha) wilderness reservation purchased for the public in 1935 by The Trustees of Reservations. The Reservation is currently being managed with the assistance from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). The fossil and plant resources on the adjacent Holyoke Gas and Electric (HG&E) riverfront property are being managed cooperatively by The Trustees, Mass DCR, and HG&E.

A footprint of Eubrontes, the most common dinosaur ichnogenus found at Dinosaur Footprints.
the footprints in a row, as the dinosaurs walked

The dinosaur tracks at this site were among the first to be scientifically described in 1836,[1] and are still visible to visitors. Hundreds of tracks, which were made by as many as four distinct types of two-legged dinosaur, are present in the sandstone outcrops. Additional fossils that have been found at the site or nearby include invertebrate burrows, fish, and plants (including charcoalified logs and leaves). The parallel orientation of many of the dinosaur trackways was among the first lines of evidence used to support the novel theory that dinosaurs traveled in packs or groups.

Fossils edit

 
One of the footprints at the Dinosaur Footprints Reservation.

As the name implies, fossil footprints are this park's main attraction. They were formed during the Early Jurassic period (approximately 200 million years ago) when what is now the Connecticut River Valley was a subtropical region filled with lakes and swamps. Bipedal, carnivorous dinosaurs up to 20 feet (6 m) long left footprints on the ancient mudflats. The area was acclaimed by 19th century paleontologists for its abundance of fossil specimens, dinosaur tracks in particular, and the reservation is popular with the ichnologists who study them. This area was first studied by Edward Hitchcock, the Amherst College professor who advanced the revolutionary notion that rather than being cold-blooded reptiles, dinosaurs were more like a sort of "reptilian bird." In the 1930s, a Springfield, Massachusetts newspaper poked fun at this notion by referring to the animals that left the fossilized footprints as "the Giant Turkeys of Prof. Hitchcock."[2]

In the last two centuries the site has drawn the attention of numerous palaeontologists, including Thomas Henry Huxley, who visited the site during his trip to America in August 1876.[3] The late John Ostrom of Yale University mapped the site and reported finding 134 tracks preserved in the sandstone beds in a seminal paper he wrote on dinosaur gregariousness.[4] Ostrom attributed the tracks to small, medium, and large theropod dinosaurs, and assigned the tracks to the ichnospecies Grallator cuneatus, which are 3 inches (76 mm) to 5 inches (127 mm) long, Anchisauripus sillimani, and Eubrontes giganteus, which are 11 inches (279 mm) to 13 inches (330 mm) long. The parallel orientation of the Eubrontes giganteus trackways and the supposed lack of a physical barrier led Ostrom to the conclusion that the large animals were gregarious and traveled in a "herd, pack, or flock."

The latest mapping project, conducted by Patrick Getty and Aaron Judge, has shown that there are at least 787 dinosaur tracks at the site and that the Eubrontes giganteus trackways are in fact parallel, or nearly parallel, to the orientation of oscillation wave-formed ripples. Considering that oscillation ripples form parallel to the shoreline, these authors suggested that the parallel trackways represent shoreline-paralleling behavior in large carnivores rather than group behavior.[5] The hypothesis that the parallel trackways were made by shoreline-paralleling behavior is further supported by the fact that parallelism is not seen in Eubrontes giganteus trackways preserved at other sites in the Connecticut River Valley.[6][7][8] In addition to the footprints of theropod dinosaurs, those of early ornithischians, called Anomoepus scambus (some with associated tail drags), have been identified at Dinosaur Footprint Reservation.[9] Non-dinosaurs are represented by footprints called Batrachopus, which were made by basal crocodilians.

Smith College professor William J. Miller wrote in his Geological History of the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts:

The largest numbers by far have been found at various localities in the general direction of Turner's Falls and South Hadley. In regard to the perfect preservation of such a vast number of geologically ancient animal tracks no district in the world is at all comparable with the Connecticut Valley ... In one case the writer is able to step, with a stride of about three and a half feet, in a series of eleven footprints, each about a foot long, exactly where a giant dinosaur left his foot print impressions on the original surface.

[2]

 
Ripple marks preserved in sandstone at Dinosaur Footprints.

A dirt path leads from the reservation entrance to the footprints. Besides the clearly formed dinosaur tracks, visitors can see imprints left by prehistoric plants, invertebrate trace fossils and delicate ripple marks of an ancient pool preserved in stone near the river's west bank. Fossils in situ are located not only in the reservation itself, but on other land including a riverfront parcel owned by Holyoke Gas and Electric and managed cooperatively with the Trustees of Reservations and the Commonwealth.[10] There is also a place to see dinosaur tracks in nearby Granby, Massachusetts.[11] Amherst College has a museum that displays the dinosaur footprints that were once found in South Hadley.[12]

Visiting edit

The reservation is open daylight hours from April 1 to November 30 and has educational programs for children.[10][13] For visitor safety, Guilford Transportation, which owns the railroad corridor, does not permit crossing of railroad tracks. As such, there is no legal access to the Connecticut River. Mountain biking is not allowed. Dogs must be kept on leash at all times.

A short trail parallels Route 5 northward from the entrance to the location of the dinosaur footprints and is easily walked.

See also edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dinosaur Footprints Reservation.

References edit

  1. ^ Hitchcock, Edward (1836). "Ornithichnology.-Description of the foot marks of birds, (Ornithichnites) on new Red Sandstone in Massachusetts". American Journal of Science and Arts. 29: 307–340.
  2. ^ a b . Archived from the original on 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
  3. ^ Ayres, Clarence Edwin (1932). Huxley. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. This occupied several days during which he was interviewed by the New York World, exchanged visits with the governor of Connecticut and made a side-trip to see the Saurian footprints on an outcrop on the west bank of the river to which a large sign beside the Connecticut River Highway between Holyoke and Northampton now points.
  4. ^ Ostrom, John (1972). "Were some dinosaurs gregarious?". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 11 (4): 287–301. Bibcode:1972PPP....11..287O. doi:10.1016/0031-0182(72)90049-1.
  5. ^ Getty, Patrick R.; Judge, Aaron; Csonka, Jayme; Bush, Andrew M (2012). Thomas, Margaret (ed.). Guidebook for Fieldtrips in Connecticut and Massachusetts: Hartford, State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut, 47th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Section of the Geological Society of America. Hartford: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Connecticut Geological & Natural History Survey. p. A1–A18.
  6. ^ Farlow, J.O.; Galton, P.M. (2003). LeTourneau, P.M.; Olsen, P.E. (eds.). The Great Rift Valleys of Pangea in eastern North America, volume 2: Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, and Paleontology. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 248–263.
  7. ^ Getty, Patrick (2005). "Excavated and in situ dinosaur footprints from the Murray Quarry (Early Jurassic East Berlin Formation), Holyoke, Massachusetts". Ichnos. 12 (3): 163–178. doi:10.1080/10420940591008999. S2CID 128423490.
  8. ^ Getty, Patrick; Hardy, Laurel; Bush, Andrew (2015). "Was the Eubrontes track maker gregarious? Testing the herding hypothesis at Powder Hill Dinosaur Park, Middlefield, Connecticut". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 56: 95–106. doi:10.3374/014.056.0109. S2CID 131281795.
  9. ^ Getty, Patrick (2004). "Ornithischian ichnites from Dinosaur Footprint Reservation (Early Jurassic Portland Formation), Holyoke, MA". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 23 (Supp 3): 63A. doi:10.1080/02724634.2003.10010538. S2CID 220410105.
  10. ^ a b Trustees of Reservations
  11. ^ "Nash Dinosaur Track Site and Rock Shop".
  12. ^ Alexander's New England Odyssey
  13. ^ . Archived from the original on 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-08-16.

External links edit

  • The Trustees of Reservations: Dinosaur Footprints
  • Trail map

42°14′30″N 72°37′24″W / 42.241682°N 72.623336°W / 42.241682; -72.623336 (Dinosaur Footprints)

January 01, 1970
dinosaur, footprints, reservation, this, article, about, nature, reserve, fossil, footprints, trace, fossil, their, study, ichnology, dinosaur, footprints, holyoke, massachusetts, acre, wilderness, reservation, purchased, public, 1935, trustees, reservations, . This article is about a nature reserve For fossil footprints see Trace fossil For their study see Ichnology Dinosaur Footprints in Holyoke Massachusetts USA is an 8 acre 3 ha wilderness reservation purchased for the public in 1935 by The Trustees of Reservations The Reservation is currently being managed with the assistance from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation DCR The fossil and plant resources on the adjacent Holyoke Gas and Electric HG amp E riverfront property are being managed cooperatively by The Trustees Mass DCR and HG amp E A footprint of Eubrontes the most common dinosaur ichnogenus found at Dinosaur Footprints the footprints in a row as the dinosaurs walked The dinosaur tracks at this site were among the first to be scientifically described in 1836 1 and are still visible to visitors Hundreds of tracks which were made by as many as four distinct types of two legged dinosaur are present in the sandstone outcrops Additional fossils that have been found at the site or nearby include invertebrate burrows fish and plants including charcoalified logs and leaves The parallel orientation of many of the dinosaur trackways was among the first lines of evidence used to support the novel theory that dinosaurs traveled in packs or groups Contents 1 Fossils 2 Visiting 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksFossils edit nbsp One of the footprints at the Dinosaur Footprints Reservation As the name implies fossil footprints are this park s main attraction They were formed during the Early Jurassic period approximately 200 million years ago when what is now the Connecticut River Valley was a subtropical region filled with lakes and swamps Bipedal carnivorous dinosaurs up to 20 feet 6 m long left footprints on the ancient mudflats The area was acclaimed by 19th century paleontologists for its abundance of fossil specimens dinosaur tracks in particular and the reservation is popular with the ichnologists who study them This area was first studied by Edward Hitchcock the Amherst College professor who advanced the revolutionary notion that rather than being cold blooded reptiles dinosaurs were more like a sort of reptilian bird In the 1930s a Springfield Massachusetts newspaper poked fun at this notion by referring to the animals that left the fossilized footprints as the Giant Turkeys of Prof Hitchcock 2 In the last two centuries the site has drawn the attention of numerous palaeontologists including Thomas Henry Huxley who visited the site during his trip to America in August 1876 3 The late John Ostrom of Yale University mapped the site and reported finding 134 tracks preserved in the sandstone beds in a seminal paper he wrote on dinosaur gregariousness 4 Ostrom attributed the tracks to small medium and large theropod dinosaurs and assigned the tracks to the ichnospecies Grallator cuneatus which are 3 inches 76 mm to 5 inches 127 mm long Anchisauripus sillimani and Eubrontes giganteus which are 11 inches 279 mm to 13 inches 330 mm long The parallel orientation of the Eubrontes giganteus trackways and the supposed lack of a physical barrier led Ostrom to the conclusion that the large animals were gregarious and traveled in a herd pack or flock The latest mapping project conducted by Patrick Getty and Aaron Judge has shown that there are at least 787 dinosaur tracks at the site and that the Eubrontes giganteus trackways are in fact parallel or nearly parallel to the orientation of oscillation wave formed ripples Considering that oscillation ripples form parallel to the shoreline these authors suggested that the parallel trackways represent shoreline paralleling behavior in large carnivores rather than group behavior 5 The hypothesis that the parallel trackways were made by shoreline paralleling behavior is further supported by the fact that parallelism is not seen in Eubrontes giganteus trackways preserved at other sites in the Connecticut River Valley 6 7 8 In addition to the footprints of theropod dinosaurs those of early ornithischians called Anomoepus scambus some with associated tail drags have been identified at Dinosaur Footprint Reservation 9 Non dinosaurs are represented by footprints called Batrachopus which were made by basal crocodilians Smith College professor William J Miller wrote in his Geological History of the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts The largest numbers by far have been found at various localities in the general direction of Turner s Falls and South Hadley In regard to the perfect preservation of such a vast number of geologically ancient animal tracks no district in the world is at all comparable with the Connecticut Valley In one case the writer is able to step with a stride of about three and a half feet in a series of eleven footprints each about a foot long exactly where a giant dinosaur left his foot print impressions on the original surface 2 nbsp Ripple marks preserved in sandstone at Dinosaur Footprints A dirt path leads from the reservation entrance to the footprints Besides the clearly formed dinosaur tracks visitors can see imprints left by prehistoric plants invertebrate trace fossils and delicate ripple marks of an ancient pool preserved in stone near the river s west bank Fossils in situ are located not only in the reservation itself but on other land including a riverfront parcel owned by Holyoke Gas and Electric and managed cooperatively with the Trustees of Reservations and the Commonwealth 10 There is also a place to see dinosaur tracks in nearby Granby Massachusetts 11 Amherst College has a museum that displays the dinosaur footprints that were once found in South Hadley 12 Visiting editThe reservation is open daylight hours from April 1 to November 30 and has educational programs for children 10 13 For visitor safety Guilford Transportation which owns the railroad corridor does not permit crossing of railroad tracks As such there is no legal access to the Connecticut River Mountain biking is not allowed Dogs must be kept on leash at all times A short trail parallels Route 5 northward from the entrance to the location of the dinosaur footprints and is easily walked See also edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dinosaur Footprints Reservation Connecticut River Valley trackways Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum Gaulin Dinosaur Tracksite Cal OrckoReferences edit Hitchcock Edward 1836 Ornithichnology Description of the foot marks of birds Ornithichnites on new Red Sandstone in Massachusetts American Journal of Science and Arts 29 307 340 a b Mount Holyoke College Lost Dinosaur Archived from the original on 2021 02 04 Retrieved 2008 08 16 Ayres Clarence Edwin 1932 Huxley New York W W Norton amp Company Inc This occupied several days during which he was interviewed by the New York World exchanged visits with the governor of Connecticut and made a side trip to see the Saurian footprints on an outcrop on the west bank of the river to which a large sign beside the Connecticut River Highway between Holyoke and Northampton now points Ostrom John 1972 Were some dinosaurs gregarious Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 11 4 287 301 Bibcode 1972PPP 11 287O doi 10 1016 0031 0182 72 90049 1 Getty Patrick R Judge Aaron Csonka Jayme Bush Andrew M 2012 Thomas Margaret ed Guidebook for Fieldtrips in Connecticut and Massachusetts Hartford State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut 47th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Section of the Geological Society of America Hartford Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Connecticut Geological amp Natural History Survey p A1 A18 Farlow J O Galton P M 2003 LeTourneau P M Olsen P E eds The Great Rift Valleys of Pangea in eastern North America volume 2 Sedimentology Stratigraphy and Paleontology New York Columbia University Press pp 248 263 Getty Patrick 2005 Excavated and in situ dinosaur footprints from the Murray Quarry Early Jurassic East Berlin Formation Holyoke Massachusetts Ichnos 12 3 163 178 doi 10 1080 10420940591008999 S2CID 128423490 Getty Patrick Hardy Laurel Bush Andrew 2015 Was the Eubrontes track maker gregarious Testing the herding hypothesis at Powder Hill Dinosaur Park Middlefield Connecticut Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 56 95 106 doi 10 3374 014 056 0109 S2CID 131281795 Getty Patrick 2004 Ornithischian ichnites from Dinosaur Footprint Reservation Early Jurassic Portland Formation Holyoke MA Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23 Supp 3 63A doi 10 1080 02724634 2003 10010538 S2CID 220410105 a b Trustees of Reservations Nash Dinosaur Track Site and Rock Shop Alexander s New England Odyssey Passport to Holyoke Archived from the original on 2008 05 10 Retrieved 2008 08 16 External links editThe Trustees of Reservations Dinosaur Footprints Trail map 42 14 30 N 72 37 24 W 42 241682 N 72 623336 W 42 241682 72 623336 Dinosaur Footprints Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dinosaur Footprints Reservation amp oldid 1202291146, 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