Eubrontes is the name of fossilised dinosaur footprints dating from the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic . They have been identified from France, Poland, Slovakia, [2] Czech Republic, [3] Italy, Spain, Sweden, Australia (Queensland), USA, [4] India [5] and China. [1]
Eubrontes is the name of the footprints, identified by their shape, and not of the genus or genera that made them, which is as yet unknown but is presumed to be similar to Coelophysis or Dilophosaurus . They are most famous for their discovery in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts in the early 19th century. They, among other footprints, were the first known non-avian dinosaur tracks to be discovered in North America, though they were initially thought to have been made by large birds.
The footprints were first described by Edward Hitchcock , a professor of Amherst College , who thought they were made by a large bird. He originally assigned them to ichnotaxon Ornithichnites in 1836, then Ornithoidichnites in 1841, before coining Eubrontes in 1845. The name means "true thunder," probably referring to the supposed weight of the animal impacting on the ground.