AN INTRODUCTION TO THUNDERBIRD FOOTPRINTS AT THE FLAG POINT PICTOGRAPH- TRACK SITE: PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS ON LOWER JURASSIC THEROPOD TRACKS FROM THE VERMILLION CLIFFS AREA, SOUTHWESTERN UTAH

The Flag Point Track Site, Vermillion Cliffs, SE Utah, reveals dinosaur footprints and nearby pictographs that provide convincing evidence that Native Americans depicted theropod dinosaur tracks that they must have observed in the Lower Jurassic Kayenta Formation and other geological formations in the region. However, despite being locally well-known and much-photographed, the track site has never been mapped or described. We herein offer a brief description of the tracks (Eubrontes and Kayentapus) and their stratigraphic context, that reveal a theropod-dominated assemblage typical of the upper part of the Kayenta Formation throughout much of southern Utah. Reported occurrences of track sites at the top of the Kayenta Formation suggest a regionallyextensive track-bearing zone or megatracksite at this level throughout much of southern Utah.