Omnisaura

Footprint type

Ruopodosaurus

Arbour et al. 2024

Ruopodosaurus 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 100.5–93.9 million years old in Canada.

Confidence labels
How sure are we?0 high8 medium1 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
100.5–93.9 Ma
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 million years ago20114366

Solid: the ages of its dated fossils, 100.5–93.9 million years ago (Omnisaura's calculation). Pale: the published range, 121.4–93.9 million years ago, which also counts records Omnisaura leaves out.

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
Arbour et al. 2024
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Described in
V. M. Arbour, M. G. Lockley, E. Drysdale, R. Rule, C. W. Helm (2024). A new thyreophoran ichnotaxon from British Columbia, Canada confirms the presence of ankylosaurid dinosaurs in the mid Cretaceous of North America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 44(5): e2451319:1–14. Read it
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; its author and year match the naming authority (Arbour et al. 2024).
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
Aptian to Cenomanian, 121.4–93.9 million years ago
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Omnisaura calculation100.5–93.9 million years ago, from its dated fossil records
mediummedium: Omnisaura's calculation from 4 confirmed PBDB records.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Found in
Canada
mediummedium: Only PBDB records it (4 records).
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).

Rock formations
Dunvegan
mediummedium: Only PBDB records it (3 records).
Kaskapau
lowlow: Only one PBDB record.
mixedmixed: 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.

Footprint family
Ankylosauridae
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Parent group
Ankylosauridae
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Species named in its records
Ruopodosaurus clava
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.
Sources: Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0)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.
  • Type species: no source we use gives it yet.
  • 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: 1 fossil record 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); 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…?

?

No. Ruopodosaurus had gone at least 10.3 million years before Tyrannosaurus appears in the fossil record.

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

RuopodosaurusFound in the same rocksSame familySame naming authorAlso found in CanadaTetrapodosaurusColumbosauripusAhshislepeltaAkainacephalusAletopeltaAnkylosaurusand 18 moreCrichtonpeltaAmblydactylusOrnithomimipusand 2 more

Found in the same rocks 2

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

TetrapodosaurusColumbosauripus

Named by Arbour 1

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

Crichtonpelta

Found in Canada 4

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

TetrapodosaurusColumbosauripusAmblydactylusOrnithomimipus

Credits

Where this page comes from

  • Paleobiology DatabaseCC BY 4.0 · fossil records, ages, classification
  • 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