uller6 Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 I was taking a walk yesterday afternoon next to the Anacostia river in PG county (Maryland), and looked down to see this very interesting rock. Unfortunately I wasn't out looking for anything in particular, so I didn't bring a ruler to measure the tracks. I think these might be hadrosaur tracks to my very inexperienced eye? There have been other tracks discovered in this general area, notably the large assemblage of late Cretaceous tracks discovered outside NASA a few years ago, and hadrosaurs have been discovered from this general area/time period. Can anyone else confirm my suspicions? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 Hello Uller6 and welcome to the forum. Hard to say for sure in that state of erosion, but to me it looks good, and context makes it plausible. A rock to come back to. best regards, J 1 1 Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 I think they look pretty convincing. Hope the experts agree. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 I agree with them possibly being dinosaur tracks, but not sure you can say much more about who made them. Were there any other exposures nearby? 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uller6 Posted May 25, 2022 Author Share Posted May 25, 2022 Thanks for the quick replies everyone! I'm attaching another picture here with the tracks hilighted in blue on the image and a comparison to hadrosaur tracks from the literature. Fossildude19: I didn't see any other exposures in the area unfortunately, this rock was sitting all alone and likely washed down from a recent flood. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 The area is very well known for tracks but not convinced thats what you have. My vote is weathering, edges too sharp. Tracks are not described to a species but to a ichnotaxon that describes its shape. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 I'm also not convinced that these are footprints. They look a lot like it, but don't have the three-dimensional structure that I'd expect to see... 1 1 1 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uller6 Posted May 25, 2022 Author Share Posted May 25, 2022 Thanks everyone for your responses! Even if these aren't real (or are too weathered for definitive ID), I've got the itch now, so I'll find some time to go back and take a longer look around the same area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 Try to determine the geologic formation of that rock. It might exclude any possibility of tracks.... 1 1 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 Looks like metamorphic rip rap to me. It's brethren on the beach are. What looks like bedding is, but it's schist I think. Not positive; just giving an opinion. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 I tend towards footprint skepticism. If they are not obvious, they are not tracks. I have been convinced otherwise in some situations. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 I'm in the differential weathering camp. 1 1 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uller6 Posted May 26, 2022 Author Share Posted May 26, 2022 (edited) Thanks everyone! I went back and looked again, now on a cloudy day. I think it's just weathering and I have an active imagination... Edited May 26, 2022 by uller6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted May 26, 2022 Share Posted May 26, 2022 8 minutes ago, uller6 said: Thanks everyone! I went back and looked again, now on a cloudy day. I think it's just weathering and I have an active imagination... A great thing to have when hunting for fossils - just as long as you're aware of it and don't just go by it blindly 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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