On a new fossil fish and new fossil footmarks

Hitchcock, Edward, 1793-1864 · 1856

An article by Edward Hitchcock extracted from the American Journal of Science and Arts second series, volume 21, number 61, published in 1856. The article describes two fossil specimens and includes an illustration. First, Hitchcock describes a fish fossil specimen, where it was found, and Professor Louis Agassiz's views about the specimen. He then provides a detailed description of fossil footprints discovered in sandstone in Turner's Falls, Massachusetts including the scientific name he has given the specimen (Gigandipus caudalus) and a description of the slab in which the prints are embedded. He posits that the tracks were not made by a bird due to the presence of a tail.