Footprint type

Anomoepus

Hitchcock 1848

Anomoepus is a footprint type: the name is for the fossil footprints themselves. The animal that made them is not known for certain. Its footprints are found in rocks 237–161.5 million years old in 10 countries, most often the United States and Lesotho.

Confidence labels

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How sure are we?0 high27 medium19 lowHow we rate confidence

Confidence labels are switched off. Facts with low confidence, or where sources disagree, still carry a small dot: tap it for the reason.

At a glance

Data as of 11 October 2026

237–161.5 Ma

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114366

The last non-bird dinosaurs died out 66 million years ago. That's as far from us as the end of this bar.

Named by: Hitchcock 1848
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Described in: E. Hitchcock (1848). An attempt to discriminate and describe the animals that made the fossil footmarks of the United States, and especially of New England. Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, new series 3: 129–256. Read it
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; its author and year match the naming authority (Hitchcock 1848).
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. The publication the Paleobiology Database gives as the authority for this genus name, usually the one that first named and described it.
Type species: Anomoepus scambus
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Dated to: Carnian to Callovian, 237–161.5 million years ago
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Omnisaura calculation237–161.5 million years ago, from its dated fossil records
medium
medium: Omnisaura's calculation from 127 confirmed PBDB records.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Found in: Canada
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (3 records).
China
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (6 records).
Italy
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).
Lesotho
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (18 records).
Poland
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (6 records).
Spain
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).
United States
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (91 records).
Australia
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Iran
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Morocco
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
mixed
mixed: Levels differ between entries; each has its own.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).
Rock formations: 29, including Portland Formation, Kayenta/Navajo Sandstone, Navajo Sandstone and Elliot Formation
mixed
mixed: Levels differ between entries; each has its own.
Show all 29, each with its confidence
East Berlin
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).
Elliot Formation
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (17 records).
Gettysburg
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).
Kayenta
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (3 records).
Kayenta/Navajo Sandstone
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (8 records).
McCoy Brook
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).
Moenave
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).
Navajo Sandstone
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (6 records).
Portland Formation
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (50 records).
Przysucha
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (4 records).
Towaco
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (3 records).
Turners Falls
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (10 records).
Yanan
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (3 records).
Barkly East
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Bull Run
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Dansirit
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Feltville
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Lastres
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Lufeng
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Mist Mountain
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Monte Zugna
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Montemarcello
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Razorback Beds
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Skloby
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Sloan Canyon
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Timezgadiouine
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Wingate Sandstone/Kayenta
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Zagaje
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Ziliujing
low
low: Only one PBDB record.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.
Footprint family: Moyenisauropodidae
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Parent group: Moyenisauropodidae
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Species named in its records: Anomoepus crassus, Anomoepus cuneatus, Anomoepus curvatus, Anomoepus gracillimus, Anomoepus intermedius, Anomoepus isodactylus, Anomoepus lacertoideus, Anomoepus major, Anomoepus minimus, Anomoepus minor, Anomoepus moghrebensis, Anomoepus pienkovskii and 1 more
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).
Older or other names: Hopiichnus (a junior synonym); Moyenisauropus (a junior synonym); Shensipus (a junior synonym)
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (names it treats as this genus).
Known from: Footprints and traces
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (what the name was based on).
Made by: Not known for certain. Footprints rarely show which animal made them.

Sources: Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0), Natural History Museum Data Portal (CC0 1.0), Wikidata (CC0 1.0)Confidence levels and gaps are Omnisaura's own assessment.

Gaps are answers

What isn't known yet

The animal that made them: not known for certain, as for most footprint types.
Order: no source we use gives it yet.
Common names: no source we use gives it yet.
What it was named after: no source we use gives it yet.
Held back: 23 fossil records left out: identified only tentatively (for example "cf.", "?" or the name in quotation marks).
Held back: 5 fossil records left out: identified as a related genus rather than this one.
Resting on one source: 5 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): authority (PBDB); type species (PBDB); parent group (PBDB); family (PBDB); age (headline) (PBDB).

Size and appearance aren't covered yet, and diet and way of life only as PBDB infers them for the wider group. Omnisaura leaves the rest out rather than guess.

Where sources disagree

None open. Where our sources overlap, they agree on everything shown here.

Did it meet…?

Did Anomoepus meet ?

No. Anomoepus had gone at least 77.9 million years before Tyrannosaurus appears in the fossil record, a longer gap than the 66 million years between Tyrannosaurus and today.

Going by the ages and rock formations of their dated fossils, as on the map. Compare their fossil sites on the map.

Connections

Genera linked to Anomoepus by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.

Found in the same rocks 54

Genera and other fossil types from the same rock units, from rocks of overlapping age, the most shared fossil sites first.

Eubrontes Grallator Massospondylus Anchisauripus Kayentapus Otozoum Argoides Platypterna Sinosaurus Syntarsus Plectropterna Lesothosaurus Sauropus Dilophosaurus Scutellosaurus Dilophosauripusand 38 more

Named by Hitchcock 13

Genera whose naming authority includes the same surname. The authority has no initials, so different people who share a surname can appear together.

Anticheiropus Argoides Eubrontes Grallator Otozoum Platypterna Plectropterna Plectropus Plesiornis Sauropus Selenichnus Trihamus Xiphopeza

Found in United States 40

Other genera found in United States, from rocks of overlapping age, the most fossil sites there first.

Grallator Eubrontes Anchisauripus Otozoum Eosauropus Argoides Coelophysis Platypterna Kayentapus Plectropterna Sauropus Evazoum Dilophosaurus Scutellosaurus Syntarsus Dilophosauripusand 24 more

Where its fossils were found

63 fossil sites, with present-day and ancient positions

Open the map at this time

Cite this page

Omnisaura (2026). Anomoepus. Future Sailors. https://www.omnisaura.com/genera/anomoepus. Data as of 11 October 2026.

What's changed

19 Oct 2026
Fossils found in: added Iran, Italy.
12 Oct 2026
Rock formations: removed Yan'an, Zhiluo.
11 Oct 2026
Added to Omnisaura.

Every change to Omnisaura

Use this data

Download this genus as JSON With every source and licence attached. Also recorded in: Paleobiology Database · Wikipedia (English) · Wikidata Spotted a problem? Tell us

Pictures

1 openly licensed picture of Anomoepus on Wikimedia Commons and museum sites, each with its own author and licence.

Anomoepus and Grallator.jpg
Jeffrey A. Wilson1*, Claudia A. Marsicano2, Roger M. H. Smith3, CC BY 2.5

Credits

Where this page comes from

Paleobiology DatabaseCC BY 4.0 · fossil records, ages, classification
Natural History Museum Data PortalCC0 1.0 · catalogued specimens
WikidataCC0 1.0 · names and identifiers
OmnisauraOmnisaura editorial · confidence levels and gaps
PaleoMAP PaleoCoastlines (Kocsis and Scotese 2021)CC BY 4.0 · ancient coastlines on the small map
Natural EarthPublic domain · today's coastlines

Pictures linked from this page are credited beside each one, with their own licences; the full list is in the JSON download.