Saurexallopus

{{Short description|Dinosaur footprint}}

{{Ichnobox

| fossil_range = Late Cretaceous

| image = Saurexallopus.jpg

| image_caption = Saurexallopus zerbsti (holotype CU-MWC 224.2) from the Lance Formation

| taxon = Saurexallopus

| authority = Harris, 1997

| type_ichnospecies = {{extinct}}Saurexallopus lovei

| type_ichnospecies_authority = Harris, 1997

| subdivision_ranks = Other species

| subdivision =

• {{extinct}}S.cordata
  McCrea et al., 2014
• {{extinct}}S.zerbsti
  Lockley et al., 2004

| synonyms = Exallopus lovei Harris et al., 1996

}}

File:Theropod track DMNH 2010-07-01.png

Saurexallopus (meaning "reptile different foot") is an ichnogenus of four-toed theropod footprints from the Late Cretaceous period. The type ichnospecies is S. lovei, named and described in 1996 from the Harebell Formation.{{cite journal|last1=Harris|first1=J. D.|last2=Johnson|first2=K. R.|last3=Hicks|first3=J.|last4=Tauxe|first4=L.|date=1996|title=Four-toed theropod footprints and a paleomagnetic age from the Whetstone Falls Member of the Harebell Formation (Upper Cretaceous : Maastrichtian), northwestern Wyoming|journal=Cretaceous Research|volume=17|issue=4|pages=381−401|doi=10.1006/cres.1996.0024|bibcode=1996CrRes..17..381H |citeseerx=10.1.1.590.9821}} The taxon was originally named Exallopus, but later renamed as Saurexallopus as the former was preoccupied by a polychaete.{{cite journal|last1=Harris|first1=J. D.|date=1997|title=Four-toed theropod footprints and a paleomagnetic age from the Whetstone Falls Member of the Harebell Formation (Upper Cretaceous : Maastrichtian), northwestern Wyoming: a correction|journal=Cretaceous Research|volume=19|issue=1 |page=139|doi=10.1006/cres.1996.0053|bibcode=1997CrRes..18..139H |citeseerx=10.1.1.694.2865}} A second species, S.zerbsti, was named and described in 2004 from the Lance Formation.{{cite journal|last1=Lockey|first1=M. G.|last2=Nadon|first2=G.|last3=Currie|first3=P. J.|date=2004|title=A Diverse Dinosaur-Bird Footprint Assemblage from the Lance Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Eastern Wyoming: Implications for Ichnotaxonomy|journal=Ichnos|volume=11|issue=3–4|pages=229−249|doi=10.1080/10420940490428625|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/14327/files/PAL_E1500.pdf }} In 2012 a four-toed track from the Cantwell Formation was referred to Saurexallopus indet. It was also suggested that Saurexallopus was produced by a therizinosaur taxon.{{cite journal|last1=Fiorillo|first1=A. R|last2=Adams|first2=T. L.|date=2012|title=A Therizinosaur Track from the Lower Cantwell Formation (upper Cretaceous) of Denali National Park, Alaska|journal=PALAIOS|volume=27|issue=6|pages=395−400|bibcode=2012Palai..27..395F|doi=10.2110/palo.2011.p11-083r|s2cid=129517554|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236585180}} In 2013 based on skeletal proportions it was suggested that the ichnotaxon was instead produced by an oviraptorosaur taxon.{{cite book|last1=Gierlinski|first1=G.|last2=Lockley|first2=M.|year=2013|chapter=A Trackmaker for Saurexallopus: Ichnological Evidence for Oviraptorosaurian Tracks from the Upper Cretaceous of Western North America|chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281606007|editor-last1=Titus|editor-first1=A. L.|editor-last2=Loewen|editor-first2=M. A.|title=At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah|pages=526−529}} In 2014 a third species was named, S.cordata, from the Wapiti Formation.{{cite journal|last1=McCrea|first1=R. T.|last2=Buckley|first2=L. G.|last3=Plint|first3=A. G.|last4=Currie|first4=P. J.|last5=Haggart|first5=J. W.|last6=Helm|first6=C. W.|last7=Pemberton|first7=G. S.|date=2014|title=A Review of Vertebrate Track-Bearing Formations from the Mesozoic and Earliest Cenozoic of Western Canada with a Description of a New Theropod Ichnospecies and Reassignment of an Avian Ichnogenus|journal=New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin|volume=62|url=https://www.academia.edu/32286918}} In 2018 several tracks from the Blackhawk Formation were referred to Saurexallopus indet.{{cite journal|last1=Lockley|first1=M.|last2=Gierlinski|first2=G.|last3=Adach|first3=L.|last4=Schumacher|first4=B.|last5=Cart|first5=K.|date=2018|title=Newly Discovered Tetrapod Ichnotaxa from the Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation, Utah|journal=New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin|volume=79|url=https://econtent.unm.edu/digital/collection/bulletins/id/7388}}