SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2009
Posts: 1,900
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Post by SteveHolmes on Dec 16, 2008 22:07:02 GMT -5
I acquired this from an older gentleman and he collected it back in the 50's in Emory County, Utah. Are these what i think they are?? I'm positive they are dino tracks but wanted an expert opinion. I have several of these slabs but the prints in this one show up the best. Steve
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,456
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Post by Sabre52 on Dec 16, 2008 23:42:28 GMT -5
Boy, that's interesting. Being raised like that they'd have to be endocasts from a track mold but the symmetry looks a bit off and the extra back toe is more birdy than dinosaury. Most the bird hipped dino tracks I've seen are more of a three toes forward with maybe just a slight spur impression in back, not that long toe impression. My guess though isifi they're not bird tracks, they're more of a raised fossil mud crack like on the top of chicken track jasper. I'd post them over at dirty rockhounds in their fossil section or check one of the Paleontology forums where the real experts abide.....Mel
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SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2009
Posts: 1,900
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Post by SteveHolmes on Dec 17, 2008 23:13:38 GMT -5
Thanks Mel! I'll have to check in there sometime. I may take them to the rock shop here in Salt Lake and see if the owner has any clues. Steve
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rollingstone
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2009
Posts: 236
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Post by rollingstone on Dec 18, 2008 3:43:33 GMT -5
I think you should definitely follow-up on Mel's suggestion to get an informed opinion. To a layman like myself, I'd really have to question whether someone didn't just find some mud that birds had stomped in, make a cast of it, and claim that they found dino prints. Well, you probably know the guy you got the cast from well enough to judge that, but you really need an informed opinion to properly assess if these are ancient dino prints or recent (or old) bird tracks. -Don
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UtahRockHound
spending too much on rocks
Sometimes your the Windshield, sometimes your the Rock.
Member since May 2008
Posts: 301
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Post by UtahRockHound on Dec 18, 2008 14:21:45 GMT -5
Emery County is rich in fossil. This is the home of Cleveland Lloyd Quarry. This is where the Utah Raptor, star of Jurassic Park movie come from. The Price Museum in Price Utah host the collection.
They are odd looking prints, but I would say if they were found in Emery, there is a good chance they are for real. Several of the Local Coal Mines have T-Rex, and other Dinosaur foot prints in the Ceilings. I have found some prints in rock myself, but never collected them.
The host stone looks like typical mud stone found throughout the area. At the time when the Ocean front was across North America, Utah was a Beach front / Marsh area.
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Post by Bejewelme on Dec 18, 2008 22:33:48 GMT -5
HUM: That is interesting stuff there Steve. Not knowing anything I think they look more like bird tracks, but I would agree that it needs to be investigated and then you can decide what to do with them, they might be worth a lot of money! Amber
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Post by Tonyterner on Dec 18, 2008 22:50:14 GMT -5
Interesting. How long until we find out how old it is? I hate to wait. lol
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SteveHolmes
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2009
Posts: 1,900
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Post by SteveHolmes on Dec 20, 2008 14:07:02 GMT -5
I posted these over at Dirty Rockhounds. Here's some of the comments/answers I've recieved. It looks like they are the real deal...too cool! Now..what to do with them ,,,yes i have seen them before,some times the track seems to reverse,,it was explined the animal sometimes was eating from a tree and turned to eat,and you can see where the track seems to turn yeah, looks like valid tracks to me, abuelito is correct that they will often turn to reach things, something catches their attention, etc. and being from Utah makes more than enough sense, tons of trackways out there. I have been studying them and they have some similarity to a few of the small vertebrate tracks that we have found at a trackway site in North Alabama. I am going to try to get a couple of my friends, who have more experience identifying tracks, to look at them also. Are the tracks on your other plates about the same size as these? The tracks are raised because they are the cast or positive side of the fossilized trace. The tracks were made in a tidal flat, probably, leaving an impression (negative) in the mud, and later filled in with sediment which formed a cast of the tracks.
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