Naslov
First Record of the Dinosaurs in the Late Jurassic of the Adriatic-Dinaridic Carbonate Platform (Croatia)

Autori
Mezga, Aleksandar ; Cvetko Tešović, Blanka ; Bajraktarević, Zlatan

Izvornik
Palaios (0883-1351) 22 (2007), 2; 188-199

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
dinosaur tracks; sauropods; Late Tithonian; Istria

Sažetak
All previously known dinosaur remains on the Adriatic-Dinaridic carbonate platform (ADCP) were described from Cretaceous deposits. A new trackbearing locality is Late Tithonian in age and represents the oldest evidence of dinosaurs on the Adriatic-Dinaridic carbonate platform. The site is in an active quarry near the village Kirmenjak in western Istria. Almost a thousand of sauropod footprints including 23 single trackways have been found on the outcrop. Oval-shaped prints represent pes prints and horseshoe-shaped prints represent manus prints. The pes prints length ranges from 23 to 52 cm. The calculated heights at the hip range from 153 to 306 cm. The main direction of dinosaur movement was toward the NE and some of the individuals were moving together. The trackways show a characteristic narrow-gauge ; the pace and stride lengths indicate a slow walk of the individuals. The footprints are similar to Parabrontopodus ichnogenus and the ichnocoenosis could be assigned to the Brontopodus ichnofacies. The presence of the sauropods on the Adriatic-Dinaridic carbonate platform during the Late Jurassic could be explained by connection with the African continent via its southern margins during emersion.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Geologija

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