ORNITHOPOD DINOSAUR TRACKS FROM THE LOWER JURASSIC OF QUEENSLAND

Natural casts of seven small footprints have been identified on a sing le weathered block derived from the Precipice Sandstone (Lower Jurassi c) of the Carnarvon Gorge, southeastern Queensland. The footprints are attributed to ornithopod dinosaurs and are referred to the ichnogenus Anomoepus. They appear to be most similar to the ichnospecies Anomoep us gracillimus, originally defined on footprints from the Lower Jurass ic of the northeastern United States. This identification is consisten t with the presumed age of the Precipice Sandstone, since Anomoepus or closely related ichnotaxa are common in Lower Jurassic sediments of t he United States, Europe and southern Africa but have never been ident ified with certainty in Triassic sediments. The tracks described here were made by at least four dinosaurs, all estimated to have been about 30 cm high at the hip and less than 1.3 m in total length. In their g eneral appearance these animals probably resembled the small plant-eat ing dinosaur Fabrosaurus (Lesothosaurus), from the Lower Jurassic of s outhern Africa. Tracks of two animals provide estimates of walking spe eds between 0.68 and 0.80 m/s (2.4 and 2.4 km/h). These footprints are the earliest evidence for the existence of ornithischian dinosaurs in Australia.