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ings and descriptions of unexpected behaviors in dinosaurs—such as tree-climbing
ceratopsians and mud-wallowing sauropods—wowed many of its fans. (The topic's
subtitle very easily could have been
Dinosaurs Gone Weird
.) That topic's popular-
ity then led to a sequel published in late 2013, titled
All Your Yesterdays
, bearing
contributionsbyavarietyofartistsinwhichtheyportrayedyetmoreunconvention-
al dinosaur behaviors. This sort of cooperation between paleontologists and visual
artists—including those who create computer-generated imagery—points toward a
potential fountain of creativity that can expand our perception of dinosaurs as real,
living animals.
Themainpointof these topics wastopromotethinkingalittledifferentlyabout
dinosaur behaviors. In that spirit, I will now take it a step further in this topic and
askustothinkdifferentlyabouttracefossilsthatcouldbemadebydifferentbehavi-
orsanddifferentdinosaurs.Furthermore,becausedinosaurtracefossilsaresomuch
more common than their bones in most places, finding odd trace fossils should be
easier than finding bones of odd dinosaurs. Sure, the usual theropod, ornithopod,
and sauropod tracks will continue to be discovered nearly every day. Yet I have a
moreambitiouswishlistoftracefossils,someofwhichIsincerelyhopewillbeun-
coveredbyichnologicallyadeptpaleontologistsinupcomingyears.Theseareafew
of my favorite things:
• Ceratopsian and pachycephalosaur trackways that confirm these big-
headed dinosaurs really did smash into one another with their bony ac-
couterments. Or, more interesting, show that they did not, and instead got
along famously and that those big heads and accompanying horns and
shields were there for some other purpose.
• Moreexamples ofdinosaururolites. Afterall,theyallhadtogosometime.
• Clear,definitivedinosaurregurgitalites,ideallywithpartiallydigestedfood
directly associated with a probable regurgitator nearby.
• Long, continuous trackways made by really big theropods. I'm talking
abouttrackwaysmadeby7-9tonCretaceoustheropodslike
Spinosaurus
or
Carcharodontosaurus
of northern Africa,
Gigantosaurus
of South Amer-
