Sphingopus

{{Short description|Dinosaur footprint}} {{Ichnobox |fossil_range = {{fossil range|250|228}} |taxon = Sphingopus |authority = [[Georges Demathieu|Demathieu]], 1966 |type_ichnospecies = {{extinct}}''Sphingopus ferox'' |type_ichnospecies_authority = [[Georges Demathieu|Demathieu]], 1966 }}

'''''Sphingopus''''' is an [[ichnotaxon|ichnogenus]] of [[dinosauromorpha|dinosauromorph]] footprints found in sediments dating to 250 and 228 [[Ma (unit)|Ma]].<ref name="brusatte">{{cite journal|author=[[Stephen L. Brusatte|Brusatte, S.L.]], [[Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki|Niedźwiedzki, G.]], & [[Richard J. Butler|Butler, R.J.]]|year=2010|title=Footprints pull origin and diversification of dinosaur stem lineage deep into Early Triassic|journal=[[Proceedings of the Royal Society B]]|doi=10.1098/rspb.2010.1746|pmid=20926435|volume=278|issue=1708|pages=1107–1113|pmc=3049033}}</ref><ref name="gand71">{{cite journal|author=[[Georges Gand|Gand, G.]]|year=1971|title=Découverte de documents ichnologiques nouveaux dans les carrières de la Pissoire (Plateau d'Antully–Saône-et-Loire)|journal=[[Bulletin Trimestriel de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle et des Amis du Muséum d'Autun]]|volume=58|pages=3–14}}</ref> The exact [[species]] which created the ''Sphingopus'' tracks have not been identified.

==Specimens== ''Sphingopus'' type footprints are known from two locations. Fossils dating 228–245 million years have been recovered from what appears to have been a lagoon in the [[Grès d'Antully Formation]] in [[Saône-et-Loire]], [[France]].<ref name="gand71" /><ref name="demathieu">{{cite journal|author=[[Georges Demathieu|Demathieu]]|year=1966|title=Rhynchosauroides petri et ''Spingopus ferox'', nouvelles empreintes de Reptiles de grès triasiques de la bordure Nord-Est du Massif Central|journal=[[Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série D]]|volume=263|pages=482–486}}</ref><ref name="gand73">{{cite journal|author=[[Georges Gand|Gand, G.]]|year=1973|title=Les empreintes dinosauroïdes des grès triasiques de la carrière des Brosses-Thillot (Mont Saint-Vincent (Saône-et-Loire))|journal=[[Bulletin Trimestriel de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle et des Amis du Muséum d'Autun]]|volume=65|pages=1–8}}</ref><ref name="gand74">{{cite journal|author=[[Georges Gand|Gand, G.]]|year=1974|title=Les traces de vertébrés triasiques de l'Autunois et du Nord du Charollais|journal=[[Bulletin Trimestriel de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle et des Amis du Muséum d'Autun]]|volume=69|pages=7–24}}</ref> More recently, older tracks attributed to this form, dating 246–250 million years ago, have been discovered in the [[Holy Cross Mountains]] in [[Poland]].<ref name="brusatte" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Reptile trace fossils]]