A REINTERPRETATION OF UNUSUAL UHANGRI DINOSAUR TRACKS FROM THE VIEW OF FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국고생물학회
· 수록지 정보 : 고생물학회지 / 26권 / 2호 / 95 ~ 105페이지
· 저자명 : 송지영

초록

Some of dinosaur tracks found in the Uhangri Formation of Korea exhibit an unusual pattern of morphology, which can be hardly compared to any other dinosaur track in the world. The individual tracks are round in overall shape, and characterized by slightly elevated radial ridges tapering from the center to the periphery. Manus and pes prints cannot be distinguished because of relatively uniform morphology of the tracks. Two hypotheses have been suggested to interpret these unique tracks; the undertrack of bipedal dinosaur scenario and the swimming sauropod scenario based on a traditional interpretation of manus-only trackways. However, these hypotheses are mainly based on the description of morphology, and biomechanical analyses are rarely considered. In this paper, the Uhangri tracks are approached from a viewpoint of functional morphology such as center of mass, buoyancy, underwater dinosaur locomotion, and submergence sequence. As a result, the swimming sauropod scenario seems to be unrealistic at some points. It may be more persuasive to interpret the tracks as undertracks made by bipedal dinosaurs while walking on the ground. Even if the possibility of underwater track formation is considered,it might be manus undertracks made by sauropod dinosaurs, in which the centers of mass are positioned anteriorly, while wading in shallow water rather than true tracks made by sauropod dinosaurs while swimming in deeper water.

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