Chimaerichnus

Say it: kye-MAY-rik-nus

Name means: “chimera footprint”2

Ate: MeatOther meat-eatersLate Triassic

Chimaerichnus was a meat-eating dinosaur that left its footprints in mud over 200 million years ago. We don't have its bones, only its tracks, so scientists call it a 'form taxon' based on those footprints.2 1

Lived

227 to 206 million years ago2

Late Triassic

Food

Meat2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Chimaerichnus was named by Edward Hitchcock in 1871, but it is based only on footprints, not on bones.2

The name Chimaerichnus means 'chimera footprint', referring to the strange-looking tracks.2

Chimaerichnus lived during the Norian age, about 227 to 205 million years ago, in the Late Triassic period.2

Scientists think Chimaerichnus was a ground-dwelling dinosaur that walked on land.1

The footprints of Chimaerichnus were found in New Jersey, USA.1

Chimaerichnus is considered a 'form taxon', which means it is classified based on its footprint shape, not on body fossils.1

AI-made picture of Chimaerichnus — An AI-made picture of how Chimaerichnus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

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Myth buster

Myth: Chimaerichnus is a real dinosaur species with known bones.

Truth: Chimaerichnus is only known from fossil footprints, not from any bones. It is a form taxon based on tracks.2 1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Chimaerichnus
Named by: Hitchcock 18712
Group: Other meat-eaters
Family / clade: Sauropodidae2
Classification: Theropoda2
Age of the rocks: 227 to 206 million years (Norian)2
Fossil records: 8 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: Chimaerichnus was named by Edward Hitchcock in 1871 based on footprints found in New Jersey, USA.2 1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly what dinosaur made the Chimaerichnus footprints, because no bones have been found.2 1

Where the facts come from

PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Chimaerichnus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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