Paluxy River
Paluxy River | |
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The Paluxy River, also known as Paluxy Creek, is a river in the U.S. state of Texas. It is a tributary of the Brazos River. It is formed by the convergence of the North Paluxy River and the South Paluxy River near Bluff Dale, Texas in Erath County and flows a distance of 29 miles (47 km) before joining the Brazos just to the east of Glen Rose, Texas in south central Somervell County.[1]
It is best known for numerous
Paluxy trackways
It has been suggested that this section be split out into another article titled Paluxy River dinosaur tracks. (Discuss) (January 2022) |
Many dinosaur
One of the most well-known discoveries made by Bird was the "chase sequence", which contains the tracks of a herd of
Man track controversy
Peculiar indistinct and elongate tracks had long been known to the locals as "man tracks" or "moccasin tracks". Since 1939,
Some of these tracks were fake, carved by locals to sell during the
While the dinosaurian origin of the tracks is well-established, their peculiar elongate shape proved to be more difficult to explain. The tracks typically show three digit impressions that extended from the front end of an elongated trough. Kuban, in 1989, argued that this trough-like depression must have been left by the
In 2021, Lallensack and colleagues confirmed that the elongated shape of the tracks resulted from the metatarsus of the foot contacting the ground. However, these researchers argued that the dinosaurs were not walking with a plantigrade foot posture, but instead walked normally, with the metatarsus angled against the digits (and the ground). The metatarsal mark would have been created by deep sinking of the feet into soft mud, leading to partial or full immersion of the digits and metatarsus. The mud would have collapsed above the sinking foot, leaving a shallow track at the surface sealing the path of the foot, which would have sunk much more deeply. This way, the metatarsal mark can be horizontal to the digit impressions even though the metatarsus itself was angled against the digits at all times. The narrow digit impressions would have collapsed more easily, resulting in their frequent absence in the tracks. The metatarsal mark, however, would have been re-opened by the foot when it was finally extracted from the substrate. The hypothesis of a plantigrade locomotion, in contrast, was considered unlikely by these researchers. A plantigrade foot posture would have resulted in an ungainly gait, with short steps and a broad trackway. Trackways consisting of elongate tracks, in contrast, show long steps indicating speeds of locomotion comparable to those of regular trackways at the same sites, and these trackways are typically narrow, with one foot placed directly in front of another. Furthermore, a plantigrade locomotion would have resulted in a highly crouched limb posture while walking, which is unfeasible at large body sizes given the increased stresses on muscles, bones, and
Digital recreation
In 2014, a digital model was made of the chase sequence trackways from photographs taken in 1940 by Bird. The photographs were used to create the digital reconstruction of the tracks as they were in 1940, before excavations. Though the reconstruction shows high variations in quality in different parts of the model, it provides a good demonstration of historical photogrammetry used to model deteriorated sites and specimens.[12]
See also
References
- ^ Handbook of Texas, Paluxy River
- ^ a b c d Kuban, Glen Jay (1989). "Elongate dinosaur tracks". In David D. Gillette; G. Martin Lockley (eds.). Dinosaur Tracks and Traces. Cambridge University Press. pp. 57–72.
- Talk.Origins
- ^ a b Weber, Christopher Gregory. "Paluxy Man — The Creationist Piltdown". Creation/Evolution Journal, 1981, pp. 16–22.
- ISBN 978-0-89096-682-2. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
In the latter location, one of the world's most famous dinosaur pathways is exposed along the bed of the Paluxy River. George Adams, a truant schoolboy, took note of them in 1908 and reported them to his teacher (Farlow 1993).=
- ^ a b c d Farlow, James O.; O’Brien, Mike; Kuban, Glenn J.; Dattilo, Benjamin F.; Bates, Karl T.; Falkingham, P. L.; Piñuela, Laura (2012). Dinosaur Tracksites of the Paluxy River Valley (Glen Rose Formation, Lower Cretaceous), Dinosaur Valley State Park, Somervell County, Texas. Proceedings of the V International Symposium about Dinosaur Palaeontology and their Environment. pp. 41–69.
- ^ a b Godfrey, L. R. (1985). "Foot Notes of an Anatomist". Creation/Evolution. 1. 5 (15): 16–36.
- ^ Branch, G. (2006). Paluxy Footprints. In H. J. Birx (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Anthropology (Vol. 4, p. 1818). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference.
- ^ a b Kuban, G (1986). "A Summary of the Taylor Site Evidence". Creation/Evolution. 6 (1): 10–18.
- ^ Cole, J. R., Godfrey, L., & Schafersman, S. (1985). Mantracks? The Fossils Say No!. Creation/Evolution, 5, 37-45.
- S2CID 245017775.
- ^ Falkingham, P. L., Farlow, J. O. (2014). Historical Photogrammetry: Bird's Paluxy River Dinosaur Chase Sequence Digitally Reconstructed as It Was prior to Excavation 70 Years Ago. PLoS ONE 9(4)