Grallator maximus " Lapparent & Montenat 1967
Creators: name: Moreau, Jean-David
name: Vullo, Romain
name: Bichr, Elsie
name: Thomas, Jérôme
name: Gand, Georges
name: Gagnaison, Cyril
name: Barrier, Pascal
name: Néraudeau, Didier
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Saurischia
Grallatoridae
Grallator
Grallator maximus

description: “ Grallator maximus ” Lapparent & Montenat, 1967   
(Fig. 10)  
 Grallator maximus Lapparent & Montenat, 1967: 20-22, pls X, XI.1, fig. 11.   
 STATUS. — Subjective junior synonym of Grallator minusculus (Hitchcock, 1858) Demathieu, Gand, Sciau & Freytet, 2002.   
EXAMINED MATERIAL. — Holotype: ULB-04C13_B (plaster cast). — Other specimens: ULB-04C04_A_1; ULB-04C06_A; ULB-04C10_B.  
DESCRIPTION  
The tracks are tridactyl, longer than wide (L/W = 1.5-(1.6)- 1.7), 26.0-(26.8)- 27.5 cm long and 15.5-(16.6)- 17.7 cm wide (Fig. 10 A-F; Table 2). D is quite long (L/D = 2.9-(3.0)-3.2). Impressions of digits are large, separated, well defined and elongated. The traces of digits II and III are the smallest and the longest, respectively. The angle between digits II and IV is 30°-(33°)-37° (Table 2). Impressions of digital pads are well preserved and are circular to oval. The position of the digito-metatarsal pad of digit IV is more proximal than that of digit II (Fig. 10 A-F).  
REMARKS  
 Based on this material, Lapparent & Montenat (1967) erected (without diagnosis) the ichnospecies “ Grallator maximus ”. These tracks being similar to G. minusculus (Fig. 4), we consider “ G. maximum ” as a subjective junior synonym of this ichnospecies. Based on footprints from the Jurassic of the United States, Hitchcock (1858) first described such large tridactyl tracks under the name Brontozoum minusculum Hitchcock, 1858 that were renamed Anchisauripus minusculus Lull, 1904 by Lull (1904). Based on material from the Hettangian-Sinemurian of the Causses Basin, Demathieu (1993) identified tracks that show similarities with the type material of Anchisauripus minusculus. Since Anchisauripus is characterised by the occasional presence of a hallux trace (Lull 1904), which is always absent in the material from France, Demathieu (1993), Demathieu & Sciau (1992) and Demathieu et al. (2002) used Grallator minusculus rather than Anchisauripus minusculus. Demathieu et al. (2002) emended the diagnosis of G. minusculus as follows: “ Large tridactyl tracks II-IV of bipeds with L × l = ca 300 × 200 mm, with large digits and well-marked pads. Claws are weakly developed and the digito-metatarsal pad of digit IV is often marked. The angle II-IV is 39° in average. The projection of III is low with a III/ D ratio around 1.93 ” (translated from French).
description: Published as part of Moreau, Jean-David, Vullo, Romain, Bichr, Elsie, Thomas, Jérôme, Gand, Georges, Gagnaison, Cyril, Barrier, Pascal & Néraudeau, Didier, 2024, Crocodylomorph and dinosaur tracks from the lowermost Jurassic of Le Veillon (western France): ichnotaxonomic revision of the type material (Lapparent collection), pp. 343-366 in Geodiversitas 46 (8) on page 358, DOI: 10.5252/geodiversitas2024v46a8, http://zenodo.org/record/11501840