50 University of Kansas Geological Survey. 



BIRD TRACKS FROM THE DAKOTA CRETACEOUS. 



The Dakota Cretaceous in Kansas has yielded many impres- 

 sions of leaves, but no vertebrate remains of any kind have so 

 far been discovered either in Kansas or elsewhere, save im- 

 pressions or casts. A record of footprints from this formation 

 was first made by Prof. B. F. Mudge, in 1866, and a later one by 

 Prof. F. H. Snow. I give below the descriptions by both of 

 these writers, in completion of the knowledge of this group of 

 vertebrates from Kansas. 



The following is by Professor Mudge : 27 



"In returning recently from an examination of the salt de- 

 posits of the Republican valley, we obtained a slab of sand- 

 stone, in situ, containing four impressions, and, at least, two 

 varieties of fossil footmarks (Ornithicnites) . Although the 

 number is small, and the prints not in the best state of pres- 

 ervation, yet the specimens are valuable as showing a new point 

 in the distribution of such fossils. 



" The locality at which the tracks were found is on the south- 

 westerly bank of the Republican river, about fifty miles from the 

 mouth. The sandstone here rises from below the bed of the 

 river in a bluff over 125 feet. The stratification is not very 

 regular ; in many cases showing an unconformable deposit, such 

 as is frequently seen where sand is deposited in shoal water by 

 varying currents. . . . The slab containing the tracks was 

 found near the highest point of the bluff, on a projection within 

 a hundred yards of the river. It is much weathered, which in- 

 jures the distinctness of the footmarks. 



"Species 1. Track number C. Divarication of the lateral 

 toes, 65°; of the inner and middle toes, 35 a ; of the middle and 

 outer toes, 35°; length of the inner toe, 3.75 inches; of the 

 middle toe, 5.1 ; of the outer toe, 3.75 ; of the foot, 5.5 ; dis- 

 tance between the tips of the lateral toes, 4.1 ; projection of the 

 middle toe beyond the others, 2.1. 



27. Discovery of Fossil Footmarks in the Liassic (?) Formation in Kansas, Amer. Journ. Sci. 

 xli, 174, 1866. 



