Amblydactylus
Pronunciation
Am-blee-DAK-till-uss
Meaning
Blunt-toed
Period
Cretaceous (145–66mya)
Ichnospecies in Australia
1) gethingi and 2) kortmeyeri
Ichnospecies meaning
1) After Neil Gething, who discovered fossilised dinosaur footprints in British Columbia, Canada. 2) After Carl Kortmeyer, who also discovered fossilised dinosaur footprints in British Columbia, Canada.
Origin and other locations
1) First described on the basis of Canadian footprints in 1932 by Charles Mortram Sternberg. 2) First described on the basis of Canadian footprints in 1979 by Philip John Currie, and William Antony Swithin Sarjeant.
Australian use and location
1) Lark Quarry Qld (Romilio & Salisbury 2011) 2) Broome region WA (Salisbury et al. 2016).
Description
Amblydactylus gethingi was proposed in 2011 in the hypothesis that the large trackways at Lark Quarry were made by a large ornithopod, as opposed to a theropod. This idea was soon discredited by Thulborn, and later by White and colleagues, and overwhelming evidence is still that the large trackways at Lark Quarry indeed represent a theropod. Consequently this name should not be used in this location.
At Broome, Amblydactylus kortmeyeri refers to large-sized ornithopod footprints, approximately 45cm long and wide.