Grallator

Gra-LATE-or – “Stilt walker” 

Grallator fossils date from the Early Jurassic (200 million years ago) of the Connecticut River Valley. This name is based upon footprints, not fossil bones, and therefore falls under a distinct classification system.  Such ichnotaxa (ICK-no-TAX-a, “trace names”) may not be attributable to known animals. A certain attribution can never be made without direct association of the track maker’s skeleton with the tracks, a highly unlikely occurrence. Because of their general shape,  Grallator tracks are presumed to be those of small, but unknown, carnivorous dinosaurs.