| Administrative History | These footprints were the first of this Triassic creature to be found in Britain, discovered in June 1838 in Storeton Hill Quarry in Merseyside. They were identified by John Cunningham (1799-1873) a Scottish architect and member of the Liverpool Natural History Society which had these detailed lithographs made for distribution.
Cunningham recognised them as being similar to prints which had been found in Germany in 1834. Their five-toed nature, especially as one of the toes looked like a thumb, caused confusion in regards to what the animal actually was. The position of its ‘thumb’ on the outside of the foot led to some suggestions that the animal must have walked cross-legged.
The Cheirotherium (from the Greek meaning ‘hand animal’) was unusual as despite its tracks being discovered also in France, Italy Spain, Arizona and Argentina no other remains were apparently found.
In 1965, a skeleton of a new species of pseudosuchian [early ancestors of crocodiles] was discovered in Switzerland. Named Ticinosuchus ferox, its anatomy, including the outer digit on the foot, matches with that which was projected for the mysterious Cheirotherium.
The slabs were presented to the Museum of the Liverpool Royal Institution by J Tomkinson. The slab shown on plate 2 is held by the Natural History Museum (ref R.729). |