Footprint type
Plectropterna
Plectropterna 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 201.4–192.9 million years old in the United States.
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- Named by
- Hitchcock 1845
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Described in
- R. S. Lull (1904). Fossil footprints of the Jura-Trias of North America. Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History 5(11): 461–557.
low
low: PBDB gives this publication for the name, but its author or year differ from the naming authority (Hitchcock 1845): it may be a later work, such as one that renamed or redefined the genus.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
- Plectropterna minitans
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Dated to
- Hettangian to Sinemurian, 201.4–192.9 million years ago
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Omnisaura calculation201.4–192.9 million years ago, from its dated fossil recordsmedium
medium: Omnisaura's calculation from 24 confirmed PBDB records.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Found in
- United States
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (24 records).Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).
- Rock formations
- Portland FormationTurners Falls
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (19 records).medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (5 records).Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.
- Parent group
- Dinosauria
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
- Plectropterna angusta, Plectropterna elegans, Plectropterna gracilis, Plectropterna lineans, Plectropterna minitans
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).
- Older or other names
- Tarsoplectrus (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.
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.
- Family: 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: 3 fossil records left out: identified only tentatively (for example "cf.", "?" or the name in quotation marks).
- Resting on one source: 5 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): name (PBDB); authority (PBDB); type species (PBDB); parent group (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…?
No. Plectropterna had gone at least 109.3 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 Plectropterna 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 16
Genera and other fossil types from the same rock units, from rocks of overlapping age, the most shared fossil sites first.
Same parent group: Dinosauria 5
Other genera in Dinosauria with a full profile.
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.
Found in United States 24
Other genera found in United States, from rocks of overlapping age, the most fossil sites there first.
Credits
Where this page comes from
- Paleobiology DatabaseCC BY 4.0 · fossil records, ages, classification
- Natural History Museum Data PortalCC0 1.0 · catalogued specimens
- 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