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Eubrontes giganteus

Reptilia - Grallatoridae

Taxonomy
Ornithichnites giganteus was named by Hitchcock (1836). It is considered to be a form taxon. Its type specimen is AC 45/8, 45/1, a footprint, and it is a trace fossil. Its type locality is Ashael Lyman's, Northampton tracksite, which is in a Hettangian/Sinemurian lacustrine - small sandstone/mudstone in the Portland Formation of Massachusetts.

It was recombined as Ornithoidichnites giganteus by Hitchcock (1837), Hitchcock (1841), Hitchcock (1843) and Hitchcock (1845); it was recombined as Eubrontes giganteus by Hitchcock (1845), Hitchcock (1865), Hay (1902), Lull (1904), Lull (1915), Lull (1917), Lull (1924), Hitchcock and Grier (1927), Thorpe (1929), Hay (1930), Bock (1952), Lull (1953), Bock (1959), Kuhn (1963), Haubold (1969), Haubold (1971), Haubold (1974), Demathieu and Haubold (1974), Sarjeant (1975), Eriksen (1979), Lockley (1986), Pannell (1986), Yang and Yang (1987), Weems (1987), Thulborn (1990), Weems (1992), Olsen et al. (1998), Gand et al. (2000), Demathieu (2003), Weems (2003), Milàn and Gierlinski (2004), Gand et al. (2005), Gand et al. (2005), Hunt and Lucas (2006), Gallagher and Hanczaryk (2006), Hunt and Lucas (2006), Lucas et al. (2006), Weishampel (2006), Weems (2006), Rainforth (2007), Gand et al. (2007), Klein and Haubold (2007), Hunt and Lucas (2007), Bessedik et al. (2008), Fujita et al. (2008), Milner et al. (2009), Lockley et al. (2011), Niedźwiedzki (2011), Moreau et al. (2012), Xing et al. (2014), Moreau et al. (2014), Abbassi and Madanipour (2014), Xing et al. (2015), Pienkowski et al. (2015), Salisbury et al. (2016), Moreau et al. (2017), Gand et al. (2018), Marty et al. (2018), Moreau et al. (2018), Moreau et al. (2019), Bessedik et al. (2020), Abrahams et al. (2020), Meyer et al. (2021), Xing et al. (2021) and Klein and Lucas (2021); it was recombined as Brontozoum giganteum by Hitchcock (1847), Hitchcock (1848), Beckles (1854), Warren (1854), Hitchcock (1858), Deane (1861), Hitchcock (1871), Miller (1879), Quenstedt (1882), Romanovsky (1882), Hitchcock (1889), Zittel (1890), Lyman (1894), Gadow (1897), Hitchcock (1898), Gadow (1901) and Baird (1957); it was recombined as Eubrontes (Grallator) giganteus by Olsen (1981); it was recombined as Grallator (Eubrontes) giganteus by Olsen and Galton (1984), Gierlinski (1991), Gierlinski and Ahlberg (1994) and Thulborn (2006).

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1836Ornithichnites giganteus Buckland p. 41
1836Ornithichnites giganteus Hitchcock p. 317
1837Ornithichnites giganteus Hitchcock p. 175
1837Ornithoidichnites giganteus Hitchcock p. 175
1841Ornithoidichnites giganteus Hitchcock p. 484 figs. Pl. 36:18
1843Ornithoidichnites giganteus Hitchcock p. 262
1843Ornithichnites giganteus Owen p. 186
1845Eubrontes giganteus Hitchcock p. 23
1845Ornithoidichnites giganteus Hitchcock p. 63
1846Ornithichnites giganteus Girard p. 15
1847Brontozoum giganteum Hitchcock p. 57
1848Brontozoum giganteum Hitchcock p. 169
1854Brontozoum giganteum Beckles p. 460–461
1854Brontozoum giganteum Warren p. 25
1858Brontozoum giganteum Hitchcock p. 64
1861Brontozoum giganteum Deane p. 42
1861Ornithichnites giganteus Owen p. 326
1865Brontozoum divaricatum Hitchcock p. 7 figs. Pl. 4:1
1865Eubrontes giganteus Hitchcock p. 23 figs. Pl. 10:1
1865Brontozoum approximatum Hitchcock p. 24 fig. 32
1871Brontozoum approximatum Hitchcock p. xxi
1871Brontozoum divaricatum Hitchcock p. xxi
1871Brontozoum giganteum Hitchcock p. xxi
1879Brontozoum giganteum Miller p. 147
1882Brontozoum giganteum Quenstedt p. 130
1882Brontozoum giganteum Romanovsky p. 292
1889Brontozoum approximatum Hitchcock p. 118
1889Brontozoum giganteum Hitchcock p. 118
1889Brontozoum divaricatum Hitchcock p. 126
1890Brontozoum giganteum Zittel p. 768
1894Brontozoum approximatum Lyman p. 205
1894Brontozoum divaricatum Lyman p. 205
1894Brontozoum giganteum Lyman p. 205
1897Brontozoum giganteum Gadow p. 204
1898Brontozoum approximatum Hitchcock p. 401
1898Brontozoum divaricatum Hitchcock p. 401
1898Brontozoum giganteum Hitchcock p. 401
1901Brontozoum giganteum Gadow p. 420
1902Eubrontes approximatus Hay p. 543
1902Eubrontes divaricatus Hay p. 543
1902Eubrontes giganteus Hay p. 543
1904Eubrontes approximatus Lull pp. 510-511 fig. 32
1904Eubrontes giganteus Lull pp. 510-511 fig. 31
1904Eubrontes divaricatus Lull p. 512 fig. 23
1915Eubrontes giganteus Lull p. 195
1915Eubrontes approximatus Lull p. 197 fig. 49
1915Eubrontes divaricatus Lull p. 198 fig. 50
1917Eubrontes giganteus Lull p. 115
1917Eubrontes approximatus Lull p. 116
1917Eubrontes divaricatus Lull p. 116
1924Eubrontes approximatus Lull p. 268
1924Eubrontes giganteus Lull p. 268
1927Eubrontes divaricatus Hitchcock and Grier p. 187
1927Eubrontes giganteus Hitchcock and Grier p. 187
1927Eubrontes approximatus Hitchcock and Grier p. 191
1929Eubrontes giganteus Thorpe p. 297
1930Eubrontes approximatus Hay p. 11
1930Eubrontes divaricatus Hay p. 11
1930Eubrontes giganteus Hay p. 11
1945Eubrontes divaricatus Laudermilk p. 20
1952Eubrontes giganteus Bock p. 405
1953Eubrontes giganteus Lull p. 179
1953Eubrontes approximatus Lull pp. 180-181
1953Eubrontes divaricatus Lull pp. 182-183
1957Brontozoum giganteum Baird p. 511
1959Eubrontes giganteus Bock p. 132
1963Eubrontes approximatus Kuhn p. 83
1963Eubrontes giganteus Kuhn p. 83
1963Eubrontes divaricatus Kuhn p. 84
1969Eubrontes giganteus Haubold p. 102 fig. 9
1971Eubrontes approximatus Haubold p. 75
1971Eubrontes divaricatus Haubold p. 75
1971Eubrontes giganteus Haubold p. 75
1972Eubrontes divaricatus Ellenberger p. 56
1974Eubrontes giganteus Demathieu and Haubold p. 62
1974Eubrontes giganteus Haubold p. 132
1975Eubrontes giganteus Sarjeant p. 295
1975Eubrontes approximatus Sarjeant p. 296
1975Eubrontes divaricatus Sarjeant p. 296
1979Eubrontes giganteus Eriksen p. 6
1981Eubrontes (Grallator) giganteus Olsen p. 558
1984Grallator (Eubrontes) divaricatus Olsen and Galton p. 96 fig. 3
1984Grallator (Eubrontes) giganteus Olsen and Galton p. 99
1986Eubrontes giganteus Lockley p. 22
1986Eubrontes approximus Pannell p. 22
1986Eubrontes giganteus Pannell p. 22
1987Eubrontes giganteus Weems p. 17
1987Eubrontes giganteus Yang and Yang p. 20
1990Eubrontes approximatus Thulborn p. 149
1990Eubrontes giganteus Thulborn p. 149
1991Grallator (Eubrontes) giganteus Gierlinski
1992Eubrontes giganteus Weems p. 124
1994Grallator (Eubrontes) giganteus Gierlinski and Ahlberg p. 101
1998Eubrontes giganteus Olsen et al. p. 590 fig. 4
2000Eubrontes giganteus Gand et al. p. 616
2002Eubrontes divaricatus Demathieu et al. p. 12
2003Eubrontes giganteus Demathieu p. 59
2003Eubrontes giganteus Weems p. 293
2004Eubrontes giganteus Milàn and Gierlinski p. 71
2005Eubrontes giganteus Gand et al. p. 32
2006Eubrontes giganteus Gallagher and Hanczaryk p. 239
2006Eubrontes giganteus Hunt and Lucas p. 165
2006Eubrontes giganteus Lucas et al. p. 91
2006Grallator (Eubrontes) giganteus Thulborn p. 291 fig. 8
2006Eubrontes giganteus Weems p. 372 fig. 4
2006Eubrontes approximatus Weishampel p. 137
2006Eubrontes giganteus Weishampel p. 137
2007Eubrontes giganteus Gand et al. p. 74
2007Eubrontes giganteus Hunt and Lucas p. 221
2007Eubrontes giganteus Klein and Haubold p. 126
2007Eubrontes giganteus Rainforth p. 50
2008Eubrontes giganteus Bessedik et al. p. 18
2008Eubrontes divaricantus Fujita et al. p. 42
2008Eubrontes giganteus Fujita et al. p. 42
2009Eubrontes giganteus Milner et al. p. 4
2011Eubrontes giganteus Lockley et al. p. 334
2011Eubrontes giganteus Niedźwiedzki p. 296
2012Eubrontes giganteus Moreau et al. p. 234
2014Eubrontes giganteus Abbassi and Madanipour p. 113
2014Eubrontes giganteus Moreau et al. p. 365
2014Eubrontes giganteus Xing et al. p. 308
2015Eubrontes giganteus Pienkowski et al. p. 24
2015Eubrontes giganteus Xing et al. p. 1010
2016Eubrontes giganteus Salisbury et al. p. 36
2017Eubrontes giganteus Moreau et al. p. 784
2018Eubrontes approximatus Gand et al. p. 199
2018Eubrontes divaricatus Gand et al. p. 199
2018Eubrontes giganteus Gand et al. p. 199
2018Eubrontes giganteus Marty et al. p. 943
2018Eubrontes giganteus Moreau et al. p. 38
2019Eubrontes giganteus Moreau et al. p. 348
2020Eubrontes giganteus Abrahams et al.
2020Eubrontes giganteus Bessedik et al. p. 34
2021Eubrontes giganteus Klein and Lucas p. 10
2021Eubrontes divaricatus Leonardi and Carvalho p. 121
2021Eubrontes giganteus Meyer et al. p. 553
2021Eubrontes giganteus Xing et al. p. 178
2023Eubrontes giganeteus Abrahams et al. p. 6

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
RankNameAuthor
classReptilia
subclassEureptilia()
—Romeriida
—Diapsida()
—Archosauromorpha(Huene 1946)
—Crocopoda
—ArchosauriformesGauthier 1986
—Eucrocopoda
—Archosauria()
informalAvemetatarsalia
—Ornithodira
—Dinosauromorpha
—Dinosauriformes
—Dinosauria()
—Theropoda()
familyGrallatoridae
genusEubrontes
speciesgiganteus()

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

†Eubrontes giganteus Hitchcock 1836
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Invalid names: Eubrontes approximatus Hitchcock 1865 [synonym], Eubrontes divaricatus Hitchcock 1865 [synonym]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
R. S. Lull 1915Pes: length of digit II, 200 mm.; III, 260 mm.; IV, 285 mm.; entire foot, 370 mm. Distance between lateral claws, 225 mm. Divarication of digits II and III, 18°; II and IV, 20°.
Length of step, 1,090 to 1,170 mm.
R. S. Lull 1915 (Eubrontes approximatus)Pes: Length of digit II, 192 to 153 mm.; III, 274 to 230 mm.; IV, 308 to 295 mm.; entire foot, 408 to 381 mm. Divarication of digits II and III, 15° to 30°; III and IV, 13° to 24°.
...Length of step (from Cat. No. 8/1, Amherst Collection), 910 to 1,080 mm.
R. S. Lull 1915 (Eubrontes divaricatus)Pes: Length of digit II, 193 mm.; III, 243 mm.; IV, 262 mm.; entire foot, 340 to 360 mm. Divarication of digits II and III, 20°; III and IV, 35° to 50°.
Length of step, 1,040 to 1,190 mm. This species is readily distinguished, apart from size, by the decided divarication of the outer toe.
A. R. C. Milner et al. 2009Eubrontes giganteus has broad pes tracks >25 cm long, functionally tridactyl with short digit III, and divarication angles between 25°–40°.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: hydroxyapatiteo
Entire body: yeso
Adult length: 10 to < 100o
Adult width: 1.0 to < 10o
Adult height: 1.0 to < 10o
Architecture: compact or denseo
Ontogeny: accretion, modification of partso
Grouping: solitaryo
Environment: terrestrialo
Locomotion: actively mobileo
Life habit: ground dwellingo
Diet: carnivoreo
Reproduction: oviparouso
Dispersal: direct/internalo
Dispersal 2: mobileo
Created: 2004-12-14 12:50:08
Modified: 2004-12-14 14:50:08
Source: o = order
Reference: Marsh 1875

Age range: base of the Rhaetian to the top of the Early/Lower Cenomanian or 208.50000 to 93.50000 Ma

Collections (46 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Late/Upper Triassic237.0 - 201.4USA (New Jersey) Brontozoum giganteum (91694)
Rhaetian208.5 - 201.3USA (Pennsylvania) Eubrontes giganteus (62768)
Rhaetian208.5 - 201.3USA (New Jersey) Eubrontes giganteus (194093)
Rhaetian208.5 - 201.3Sweden (Kristianstads) Theropoda indet. (51979)
Rhaetian - Early/Lower Hettangian208.5 - 196.5France (Occitanie) Eubrontes giganteus (206455)
Early/Lower Jurassic201.4 - 174.7Namibia (Otjozondjupa) Eubrontes giganteus (214423)
Hettangian201.3 - 199.3USA (Connecticut) Eubrontes approximatus (51255 51260 51263) Eubrontes giganteus (51256 51261 55741) Ornithoidichnites giganteus (91576)
Hettangian201.3 - 199.3USA (Utah) Eubrontes sp. (56131 121311) Eubrontes sp., Theropoda indet. (121305)
Hettangian201.3 - 199.3France (Aveyron) Eubrontes divaricatus (55480)
Hettangian201.3 - 199.3USA (Massachusetts) Brontozoum divaricatum (53030) Brontozoum giganteum (53029) Brontozoum giganteum, Brontozoum approximatum (53024) Brontozoum giganteum, Brontozoum approximatum, Brontozoum divaricatum (52986) Eubrontes giganteus, Eubrontes divaricatus (69798)
Early/Lower Hettangian201.3 - 196.5Canada (Nova Scotia) Eubrontes giganteus (138976 138977)
Hettangian - Sinemurian201.3 - 190.8USA (Massachusetts) Brontozoum giganteum (52996 53028 91577 91666) Brontozoum giganteum, Brontozoum approximatum (52998) Brontozoum giganteum, Brontozoum approximatum, Brontozoum divaricatum (52985 62844) Brontozoum giganteum, Eubrontes divaricatus (52995) Ornithichnites giganteus, Brontozoum approximatum (type locality: 53025) Ornithoidichnites giganteus (91398 91578)
Hettangian - Sinemurian201.3 - 190.8USA (Connecticut) Brontozoum giganteum (91573) Brontozoum giganteum, Brontozoum divaricatum (91574) Eubrontes giganteus, Eubrontes divaricatus (53023) Ornithoidichnites giganteus (53033) Ornithoidichnites giganteus, Brontozoum divaricatum (53000)
Hettangian - Pliensbachian201.3 - 182.7USA (Arizona) Eubrontes giganteus (225199)
Hettangian - Bajocian201.3 - 168.3India (Rajasthan) Eubrontes giganteus (168396)
Sinemurian199.3 - 190.8USA (New Jersey) Brontozoum approximatum (91695)
Early/Lower Sinemurian196.5 - 189.6USA (Virginia) Eubrontes giganteus, Eubrontes approximus (104029)
Oxfordian - Early/Lower Kimmeridgian163.5 - 150.8USA (Colorado) Eubrontes giganteus (183640)
Albian - Early/Lower Cenomanian113.0 - 93.5United Kingdom (England) Ornithoidichnites giganteus (232275)