trackway

A trackway is a sequence of footprints or other marks left by an animal as it moves, preserved in sediment as a trace fossil. Trackways can record locomotion of a single individual or multiple individuals and may include prints, scrapes, drag marks, or tail traces.

In paleontology and ichnology, trackways are studied as trace fossils, distinct from body fossils. They form when soft ground is capable of taking an impression, and the sediment later hardens into rock. Preservation depends on factors such as substrate consistency, moisture, rapid burial, and subsequent geological processes. A trackway can reveal the animal's orientation, pace, stride length, track width, and gait, and may indicate whether the movement was solitary or social.

Interpreting trackways involves quantitative measurements and qualitative features to infer locomotion and posture. The trackmaker is often uncertain; ichnotaxa classify shapes and arrangements rather than the exact species. Trackways provide evidence about speed, gait (bipedal or quadrupedal), limb coordination, and habitat use, and they complement body fossils by offering behavioral context.

Global occurrences include dinosaur trackways in North America, Europe, and Asia, as well as sauropod and theropod tracks in several formations. Notable sites include the Glen Rose Formation in Texas and Lark Quarry in Australia, both cited for well-preserved and informative trackways.