Footprint type
Moraesichnium
Moraesichnium is a footprint type: the name is for the fossil footprints themselves. The animal that made them is not known for certain. Its footprints are found in rocks 143.1–125.8 million years old in Brazil.
Confidence labels are switched off. Facts with low confidence, or where sources disagree, still carry a small dot: tap it for the reason.
At a glance
Data as of 12 October 2026- Named by
- Leonardi 1979
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Described in
- G. Leonardi (1979). Nota preliminar sobre seis pistas de dinossauros Ornithischia da Bacia do Rio do Peixe, em Sousa, Paraíba, Brasil [Preliminary note on six Ornithischia dinosaur trackways from Bacia do Rio do Peixe, in Sousa, Paraíba, Brazil]. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 51(3): 501–516.
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; its author and year match the naming authority (Leonardi 1979).Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. The publication the Paleobiology Database gives as the authority for this genus name, usually the one that first named and described it.
- Dated to
- Berriasian to Hauterivian, 143.1–125.8 million years ago
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Omnisaura calculation143.1–125.8 million years ago, from its dated fossil recordsmedium
medium: Omnisaura's calculation from 4 confirmed PBDB records.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Found in
- Brazil
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (4 records).Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).
- Rock formations
- Sousa
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (4 records).Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.
- Parent group
- Theropoda
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Known from
- Footprints and traces
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (what the name was based on).
- Made by
- Not known for certain. Footprints rarely show which animal made them.
Gaps are answers
What isn't known yet
- The animal that made them: not known for certain, as for most footprint types.
- Type species: no source we use gives it yet.
- Order: no source we use gives it yet.
- Family: no source we use gives it yet.
- Common names: no source we use gives it yet.
- What it was named after: no source we use gives it yet.
- Held back: 1 fossil record left out: identified only tentatively (for example "cf." or "?").
- Resting on one source: 4 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): name (PBDB); authority (PBDB); parent group (PBDB); age (headline) (PBDB).
Size, diet and behaviour aren't covered yet. Omnisaura leaves them out rather than guess.
Where sources disagree
None open. Where our sources overlap, they agree on everything shown here.
Did it meet…?
No. Moraesichnium had gone at least 42.2 million years before Tyrannosaurus appears in the fossil record.
Going by the ages and rock formations of their dated fossils, as on the map. Compare their fossil sites on the map.
Found in the same rocks
Genera and other fossil types from the same formations, from rocks of the same age.
Same parent group
Other genera in Theropoda with a full profile.
Credits
Where this page comes from
- Paleobiology DatabaseCC BY 4.0 · fossil records, ages, classification
- OmnisauraOmnisaura editorial · confidence levels and gaps
- PaleoMAP PaleoCoastlines (Kocsis and Scotese 2021)CC BY 4.0 · ancient coastlines on the small map
- Natural EarthPublic domain · today's coastlines