Geoscience Reference
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make important contributions through their numerous eyes on the ground (or on the
stars). Let the games begin.
Nevertheless, we should describe and interpret these trace fossils with care.
One of the best facets of the fossil record is that it gets better every day, and trace
fossils are a big part of this daily improvement. Yet of the dinosaur trace fossils
found, many either remain undescribed or (far worse) have been under-described,
without enough meaningful attention to detail to be faithful records of dinosaur be-
havior.Ifdinosaurtracefossilsaretreatedlikecuriosthataresimplynamed“track,”
“toothmark,” or “coprolite,” for instance, and linked to a possible dinosaur, they
will become as dead as their makers. Technology will certainly play a part in bet-
ter describing trace fossils. For example, 3-D images and 3-D printers of dinosaur
tracks have already allowed researchers on other sides of the globe to work cooper-
atively, or to add to one another's observations.
Remember that dinosaurs are still making traces.
With 10,000 species of ex-
tant birds, all of which are making traces, we have no shortage of modern analogs
for dinosaur behaviors. Granted, these dinosaurs are limited to avian theropods, but
their tracks, nests, burrows, gastroliths, feces, and other traces supply many oppor-
tunitiestothinkabouthowdinosaursbothavianandnon-avianmighthavebehaved,
and whether they made similar traces. Furthermore, although crocodilians are only
distant relatives of dinosaurs, these big archosaurs are wonderful examples of big
scalyfour-leggedtoothytracemakersthatfitastracemakingsurrogatesforafewdi-
nosaurs and their Mesozoic relatives.
Become ichnologically imaginative.
As one might have intimated from the
wish list given above, I am encouraging everyone interested in dinosaurs to specu-
lateaboutbehaviorsdinosaursmayhavedoneandthetracesthatresultedfromthese
behaviors. In the spirit of leading by example, I've done a few flights of reasonable
fancy in this respect throughout the topic, with the hope that more people will do
the same. As a result, I fully expect dinosaur enthusiasts, armed with a heightened
