Triassic dinosaur (grallator) track

[Fossil_Adult]

For many years, I have unsuccessfully tried to find a dinosaur fossil on the east coast. I have looked through road cuts, construction sites, I’ve tried getting private permission, I’ve done a lot of looking over the years, going to areas I know have Triassic rock. All I’ve managed to come away with is a few Triassic shells, and a piece of a footprint. Not good enough.

 

For many years, the Triassic dinosaur footprints have always been one step ahead of me. Until now. As I was driving through northern Virginia, I knew I was driving right over the Culpeper basin. So when I saw yet again another pile of red Triassic rock, I rolled my eyes thinking I’d yet again find nothing here, and stopped. I was so very wrong to think that. Because within 15 minutes of me being there, I found a Grallator dinosaur trackway while splitting rock! I was astounded. The fossil I’ve been looking for years for, staring me right in the face. I couldn’t believe it at first, I actually looked closer at the specimen, trying to reason with myself. I was seeing things, that trackway is another geologic feature, etc. but there was no denying what this was. 

The dinosaur track in question:

There is no denying it, that is definitely a track from a Grallator. I never really thought that this moment would come,  but I prepared myself nonetheless. I’ve looked over every Triassic basin, studied the different formations, learned about the geology, looked at pictures online of what footprints look like, I did everything to prepare myself for this moment. And I have to say, the Triassic of Northern Virginia did not disappoint! 
 

A more zoomed out photo of the dinosaur track from Northern Virginia. 
 

 

The positive side of the track. Unfortunately, the bottom of this piece broke off and cascaded into a pile of rock shards, never to be found again (and trust me, I tried).

 

Well, I think it’s going to be difficult to top this one. I looked for hours after the initial find, but I didn’t seem to find anything else of value. I know there’s probably more there, and I will be returning before those rocks get moved somewhere else. Overall I’m very happy with how yesterday went! 

[Coco]

Size of the trace ?

 

Coco

[Fossildude19]

Neat find.

For those having trouble seeing the print:

 

 

 

 

Not seeing a track on the third photo, though. 

[Fossil_Adult]

37 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

Neat find.

For those having trouble seeing the print:

 

 

 

 

Not seeing a track on the third photo, though. 

It’s the reverse side of this track. It’s hard, because half of it’s missing.  But it’s there. 

[Fossil_Adult]

3 hours ago, Coco said:

Size of the trace ?

 

Coco

2 inches approximately. 

[Fossildude19]

12 minutes ago, Fossil_Adult said:

It’s the reverse side of this track. It’s hard, because half of it’s missing.  But it’s there. 

[Fossil_Adult]

12 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

 

[Brandy Cole]

@Fossil_Adult

Congrats on your bucket list find!

[patelinho7]

I see it, that’s why OP mentioned the broken section. If you follow the fracture line of the negative print you can see a bit of the positive along the bottom edge of the other piece.

 

Congratulations!! I know exactly what you mean about yet another pile of red rocks. I have been researching and scouting the culpeper basin for a while now as well and am just now making progress, though I haven’t found a nice track like yours. I have been focusing more on the Balls Bluff member, in the hopes of vertebrate material. I’m just now starting to make progress and I’m starting to score some interesting plant material. I hope this track for you and my plant material means we are getting closer and more finds from the Triassic of N. VA are just around the corner! 

 

@Andúril Flame of the West will find this report cool, I think! 

[Fossildude19]

I can now see a possible partial print, but it isn't that developed.

 

[gwestbrook]

Awesome find! A once in a lifetime experience for sure. 

 

[Andúril Flame of the West]

Congrats @Fossil_Adult, this is certainly a find to be proud of! 

I cannot say that I'm not , but it seems that your hard work has paid off. With so little to show from my Triassic explorations, I had begun to despair, but this gives me hope that there might still be something to be found in the Culpeper Basin. Personally, I have only found a poorly preserved flora at one locality, but it seems that perseverance is the name of the game when it comes to Newark sediments. I have noticed the piles of overburden in many construction sites but have never really paid them much mind as I have only found plant fossils in the silty grey mudstones and shales. Your success may just prove that even the redder rocks can be fruitful. Again, congratulations on your find and I look forward to seeing any updates after you pay the site another visit! 

 

@patelinho7, I am glad to hear that you have had some success in the Culpeper Basin! Does your plant material have similar preservation and occur in sediments that have similar lithology? Unfortunately the plant material that I have found mainly occurs in loose clasts that appear to have been dumped or reworked. This makes it hard to find their stratigraphic placement or determine what formation they came from... If your material has been found in situ then I would certainly say that you are on the right track!

 

@Fossil_Adult, in addition to this footprint have you encountered other material in the Culpeper Basin? You mentioned that you found a partial footprint (I would be thrilled to find even a sliver of one  ) and some shells (I assume that these are conchostracans?). I'd love to hear more about your finds and I may send a PM your way in the near future...

 

Also, I am very curious to know if there have been any changes regarding the status of the Paleocene mammal material that you found from the Aquia formation a while back. That was a stunning find and I hope that it is indeed of scientific significance. 

[Fossil_Adult]

15 minutes ago, Andúril Flame of the West said:

Congrats @Fossil_Adult, this is certainly a find to be proud of! 

I cannot say that I'm not , but it seems that your hard work has paid off. With so little to show from my Triassic explorations, I had begun to despair, but this gives me hope that there might still be something to be found in the Culpeper Basin. Personally, I have only found a poorly preserved flora at one locality, but it seems that perseverance is the name of the game when it comes to Newark sediments. I have noticed the piles of overburden in many construction sites but have never really paid them much mind as I have only found plant fossils in the silty grey mudstones and shales. Your success may just prove that even the redder rocks can be fruitful. Again, congratulations on your find and I look forward to seeing any updates after you pay the site another visit! 

 

@patelinho7, I am glad to hear that you have had some success in the Culpeper Basin! Does your plant material have similar preservation and occur in sediments that have similar lithology? Unfortunately the plant material that I have found mainly occurs in loose clasts that appear to have been dumped or reworked. This makes it hard to find their stratigraphic placement or determine what formation they came from... If your material has been found in situ then I would certainly say that you are on the right track!

 

@Fossil_Adult, in addition to this footprint have you encountered other material in the Culpeper Basin? You mentioned that you found a partial footprint (I would be thrilled to find even a sliver of one  ) and some shells (I assume that these are conchostracans?). I'd love to hear more about your finds and I may send a PM your way in the near future...

 

Also, I am very curious to know if there have been any changes regarding the status of the Paleocene mammal material that you found from the Aquia formation a while back. That was a stunning find and I hope that it is indeed of scientific significance. 

Yes. Check every pile. Every rock. Be as thorough as possible, and you might just find one of these. I can stress that this has taken me years of perfecting this skill before I was able to come away with a dinosaur track. 
 

I had found a partial footprint from a mystery animal in the Cow Branch formation of North Carolina, along with some freshwater clams. I have searched Maryland Triassic, Virginia Triassic, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, all to no success. It’s all a numbers game, don’t ever give up, and you’ll find it.

 

And yes, I was able to get an update on that land mammal skull. It is a mesonychid, which was a Paleocene land carnivore. 
 

yeah I really hope to make a return to this particular location. Now, my next areas of focus will be Severn, and finding a dinosaur tooth in this area. I know it’s out there somewhere…

[Andúril Flame of the West]

20 minutes ago, Fossil_Adult said:

Yes. Check every pile. Every rock. Be as thorough as possible, and you might just find one of these. I can stress that this has taken me years of perfecting this skill before I was able to come away with a dinosaur track. 
 

I had found a partial footprint from a mystery animal in the Cow Branch formation of North Carolina, along with some freshwater clams. I have searched Maryland Triassic, Virginia Triassic, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, all to no success. It’s all a numbers game, don’t ever give up, and you’ll find it.

 

And yes, I was able to get an update on that land mammal skull. It is a mesonychid, which was a Paleocene land carnivore. 
 

yeah I really hope to make a return to this particular location. Now, my next areas of focus will be Severn, and finding a dinosaur tooth in this area. I know it’s out there somewhere…

 

Now that I have seen your success I certainly intend to! It seems that this is quite the game of perseverance but I can only imagine the sweet taste of victory after coming across such as stunning find. The main reason that I have not visited construction sites is due to concerns regarding private property and liability concerns. I suppose that they may not mind one searching through overburden that is unlikely to be of use to the developers, but liability due to potential injury is always on the mind. 

 

Good to know! I have been hoping to find some conchostracans and have come relatively close, but to no avail. Alas, I suppose that if one does not give up they may eventually reap the rewards. 

 

Congratulations! Fantastic to hear that there has been an ID and what a wonderful find. I hope that this proves to be useful for future research. 

 

I am not sure how much you have explored the Severn, but @patelinho7 and I have had some success in that particular arena. Like the Culpeper exposures are relatively scant but they can certainly be found and some interesting vertebrate and invertebrate fossils can be recovered.