Stratigraphic and geographic distribution of dinosaur tracks in the UK

Abstract

Dinosaur tracks are a key means of determining the palaeoecology and distribution of dinosaurs through time. They provide an information source that is highly complementary to the body (skeletal) fossil record, but differ in preserving direct evidence of the animals’ interactions with their environment. The UK has a rich history of c. 200 years of dinosaur track discovery, but no recent synthesis exists. Here, we present a new dataset of dinosaur tracks in the UK. This dataset shows a close correlation between the distribution of terrestrial sediments and the preservation of dinosaur tracks through the Mesozoic, providing discrete snapshots into dinosaur communities in the Late Triassic, Mid-Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. The dinosaur track record shows similar broad patterns of diversity and relative abundance of the major dinosaur groups (Theropoda, Sauropodomorpha, Ornithopoda and Thyreophora) through time to the body fossil record, although it differs in that body fossils are also found (albeit infrequently) in marine sediments. There is a broad trend towards higher numbers of track occurrences through time and a notable increase in the relative abundance of ornithopod tracks following the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary. The track record remains an underutilized resource with the potential to provide a much fuller view of Mesozoic dinosaur ecosystems. Supplementary material: Our new UK dinosaur track database, the PBDB body fossil record and the relative abundance of non-marine/marine rocks in England and Wales used in this study are provided in Supplementary Tables 1–3, respectively, the R-code used to analyse the data and generate Figures 2 and 3 and Supplementary Figures 1–4 is given in Supplementary Information 1 and 2, and are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6606634