A week ago, part of the team (Dianna, Josi, Justin, Charlie, Dan and Thomas) visited the privately-owned Davenport Ranch in Bandera. Megan and her daughter Brooke helped the team locate the best tracks and participated to their description and molding. These tracks are beautifully preserved, allowing the measurement of numerous morphological features and the observation of pads!
Josi and Charlie complete the description and measurement of a stratigraphic section. Duct tapes on the rock indicated key features, beds surface, and sampling locations
Dianna demonstrates to Josi and Charlie how to measure the azimuth of the track by targeting the tip of the central digit and reading the orientation on the compass.
Amongst many measurements, the length and width of individual tracks inform on the size of the animal; here, Dianna measures under Brooke’s supervision, while Josi records all measurements.
Dianna measures the angle between digits that characterizes individual animal; in total, three different angles are measured.
Brooke proudly poses next to a beautiful theropod track with a well-preserved rim around it that was formed when the heavy animal walked on that surface when it was mud.
Some of these tracks are very large!
In this theropod track, pads in the uppermost digit can be see, suggesting this is a real track layer.
Thomas molded several tracks that will permit more detailed measurements and a permanent preservation of the tracks as part of the collection of the Witte Museum in San Antonio.