Crocodile Slide

An odd-shaped trace may be an impression made by a crocodile sliding on its belly into shallow water, leaving at least one footprint and possibly belly and tail slide marks behind. Similar traces are found south of Moab in the Morrison Formation, so such a trace would not be unexpected here. Crocodiles were relatively common in western North America from the late Jurassic through the late Cretaceous periods, suggesting a climate during the age of dinosaurs like the environments where crocodiles and alligators live today, comparable to a Mississippi delta extending through Utah and up to Alberta. The track is identified as a Hatcherichnus-like trace from the Early Cretaceous, about 112 million years ago, in the Cedar Mountain Formation.

Utah · United States