Ślady wielkich teropodów z wczesnojurajskich osadów Gór Świętokrzyskich

Abstract

Large theropod footprints fromthe Early Jurassic of the Holy Cross Mountains, Poland.Summary. Numerous gigantic and large theropod dinosaur footprints were recently discovered in the Lower Jurassic deposits of the Holy Cross Mountains (central Poland). These finds provide paleoichnological evidence for the occurrence of gigantic predatory dinosaurs in the earliest Jurassic (Hettangian) times. The gigantic and large theropod tracks came from two well-known lower Hettangian tracksites at Sołtykow and Gromadzice. The Sołtyków outcrop represents a siliciclastic coal-bearing lithofacies association of a fairly well-watered alluvial plain. The sequence from the Gromadzice site is dominated by typical meandering river deposits with lenticular, incised channels and overbank mudstones, rich in drifted flora and plant roots. Hitherto, twenty four specimens of gigantic theropod Eubrontes-like footprints (50–65 cm long) were found at Sołtyków tracksite. Another large theropod footprints (30–45 cm) identified at Sołtyków, resemble Kayentapus-like ichnites and classic ichnotaxa of the Newark Supergroup (i.e., Eubrontes giganteus Hitchcock, 1845 sensu Olsen et al., 1998). In the Gromadzice site, large Eubrontes giganteus, Eubrontes sp., and cf. Eubrontes sp. footprints were identified. The intriguing gigantic ichnites from Sołtyków are more similar to the large prints left by Middle–Late Jurassic theropods than to other finds from the Early Jurassic.