Footprint type
Pseudotetrasauropus
Pseudotetrasauropus 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 237–201.4 million years old in Lesotho, the United States and the United Kingdom.
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
- Ellenberger 1965
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Described in
- P. Ellenberger (1970). Les niveaux paléontologiques de première apparition des mammifères primoridaux en Afrique du Sud et leur ichnologie. Establissement de zones stratigraphiques detaillees dans le Stormberg du Lesotho (Afrique du Sud) (Trias Supérieur à Jurassique) [The paleontological levels of the first appearance of primordial mammals in southern Africa and their ichnology. Establishment of detailed stratigraphic zones in the Stormberg of Lesotho (southern Africa) (Upper Triassic to Jurassic). In: S. H. Haughton (ed.), Second Symposium on Gondwana Stratigraphy and Paleontology, International Union of Geological Sciences. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria: 343–370.
low
low: PBDB gives this publication for the name, but its author or year differ from the naming authority (Ellenberger 1965): 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.
- Dated to
- no earlier than 237 million years ago
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Omnisaura calculation237–201.4 million years ago, from its dated fossil recordsmedium
medium: Omnisaura's calculation from 9 confirmed PBDB records.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Found in
- LesothoUnited States
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (4 records).United Kingdommedium
medium: Only PBDB records it (4 records).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
- ChinleElliot Formation
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (2 records).Moltenomedium
medium: Only PBDB records it (3 records).Redondalow
low: Only one PBDB record.Sloan Canyonlow
low: Only one PBDB record.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: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.
- Parent group
- Prosauropoda
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
- Pseudotetrasauropus augustus, Pseudotetrasauropus bipedoida, Pseudotetrasauropus mekalingensis
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).
- 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.
- Type species: no source we use gives it yet.
- 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: 4 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): name (PBDB); authority (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. Pseudotetrasauropus had gone at least 117.8 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 Pseudotetrasauropus 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 20
Genera and other fossil types from the same rock units, from rocks of overlapping age, the most shared fossil sites first.
Named by Ellenberger 7
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 Lesotho 8
Other genera found in Lesotho, 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