Genus
Ichnogenus Formal taxon Extinct

Bellatoripes

McCrea et al. 2014

Bellatoripes is an ichnogenus of footprint produced by a large theropod dinosaur so far known only from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta and British Columbia in Canada. The tracks are large and three-toed, and based on their size are believed to have been made by tyrannosaurids, such as Albertosaurus and Daspletosaurus. Fossils of Bellatoripes are notable for preserving trackways of multiple individual tyrannosaurids all travelling in the same direction at similar speeds, suggesting the prints may have been made by a group, or pack, of tyrannosaurids moving together. Such inferences of behaviour cannot be made with fossil bones alone, so the record of Bellatoripes tracks together is important for understanding how large predatory theropods such as tyrannosaurids may have lived.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
1
Group
Dinosaures
Carnivore Ground dwelling, solitary Terrestrial
Bellatoripes
click to enlarge
In situ tyrannosaurid Bellatoripes fredlundi Trackway A images. a) Print #2 of Trackway A (in situ) - PRPRC 2011.11.001 (right); b) Trackway A (in situ) view to the east of prints #1–3. Note the thick layer of kaolinite in the freshly excavated area in front of print #3. © Richard T. McCrea, Lisa G. Buckley, James O. Farlow, Martin G. Lockley, Philip J. Currie, Neffra A. Matthews, S. George Pemberton · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Theropoda Unranked clade
Neotheropoda Unranked clade
Averostra Unranked clade
Tetanurae Unranked clade
Coelurosauria Unranked clade
Tyrannosauroidea Superfamily
Tyrannosauridae Family
Tyrannosauripodidae Unranked clade
Bellatoripes Genus
Fossil sites 1 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇦 Canada
1
Geological formations
Wapiti
1
Temporal distribution
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Bellatoripes fredlundi 84 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
R. T. McCrea, L. G. Buckley, and J. O. Farlow, M. G. Lockley, P. J. Currie, N. A. Matthews, S. G. Pemberton. 2014. A ‘terror of tyrannosaurs’: the first trackways of tyrannosaurids and evidence of gregariousness and pathology in Tyrannosauridae. PLoS ONE 9(7):e103613:1-13 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
R. T. McCrea, L. G. Buckley, and J. O. Farlow, M. G. Lockley, P. J. Currie, N. A. Matthews, S. G. Pemberton. 2014. A ‘terror of tyrannosaurs’: the first trackways of tyrannosaurids and evidence of gregariousness and pathology in Tyrannosauridae. PLoS ONE 9(7):e103613:1-13 DOI ↗