Underprint_(ichnology)
Underprint (ichnology)
Type of fossil footprints
In ichnology, underprints (also known as transmitted prints or ghost prints) are fossil footprints that are preserved in a sedimentary level beneath that which was directly imprinted upon by the foot of the trackmaker. The concept goes all the way back to the 1858 ichnological research of the Reverend Edward Hitchcock performed on the Newark Basin dinosaur tracks. Because underprints are produced indirectly they can only preserve the basic anatomy of the trackmaker's foot, whereas true tracks can preserve fine details skin impressions in favorable circumstances.[1]