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Dinosaur tracks in a marginal marine environment: The Coste dell'Anglone ichnosite (Early Jurassic, Trento Platform, NE Italy)
Abstract and Figures
Bipedal tridactyl dinosaur footprints dominate the Early Juras-sic Coste dell'Anglone tracksite, located on the eastern slope of the Mt. Biaina-Mt. Brento chain (Trentino Alto-Adige, NE Italy). The site yielded 544 tridactyl footprints, arranged in 20 long trackways, and belongs to the upper part of the Calcari Grigi Group (lower portion of the Rotzo formation). All the tracks can be attributed to small-and medium-sized theropods. Trace fossils were discovered in a peri tidal carbonate succession deposited in a marginal area of the Trento carbonate Platform, which has so far been considered fully marine (subtidal) in origin. The Coste dell'Anglone outcrop repre-sents one of the most extensive Early Jurassic dinosaur tracksites in the Southern Alps and is probably the last dinosaur occurrence on the Trento Platform. The ichnological and sedimentological analyses of the track-bearing sequence indicate a depositional setting corre-sponding to a tidal flat embayment, positioned on the westernmost sector of the Trento Platform, close to the Lombardy pelagic basin. Stratigraphical data indicate that dinosaur populations lived in this area until the Sinemurian. A comparison with the Early Jurassic theropod tracks global record is here provided, along with an investigation into the possible trackmaker. The tracks share unambiguous similarities with the tri-dactyl tracks discovered at the Lavini di Marco tracksite, in the basal portion of the Calcari Grigi Group (Monte Zugna formation, Hettan-gian) and with theropod tracks from the Lower Jurassic of Poland, France and the United States. This new discovery therefore supports calls for a re-examination of the palaeogeographic reconstruction of the Southern Alps during the Early Jurassic.
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... The track-bearing horizon belongs to a stratigraphic succession characterised by shallowing-upward cycles. Each cycle is characterised by the transition from a low energy subtidal unit (intensely bioturbated nodular limestone), with associated invertebrate traces (Thalassinoides isp., Chondrites isp.), to high energy subtidal deposits (oolitic grainstone with intraclasts and bioclasts) up into inter-and supra-tidal deposits (Petti et al., 2011b). ...
... In the upper part of the sequence, the track layer consists of poorly fossiliferous dark grey stromatolitic and peloidal mudstone Petti et al., 2011b). The section belongs to the lowermost portion of the Rotzo Formation (formerly Tovel Member sensu Castellarin et al., 2005) and the microfossil assemblages indicate a late Sinemurian to Pliensbachian age Petti et al., 2011b). ...
... In the upper part of the sequence, the track layer consists of poorly fossiliferous dark grey stromatolitic and peloidal mudstone Petti et al., 2011b). The section belongs to the lowermost portion of the Rotzo Formation (formerly Tovel Member sensu Castellarin et al., 2005) and the microfossil assemblages indicate a late Sinemurian to Pliensbachian age Petti et al., 2011b). ...
This article reports the state of the art of research on the Jurassic tetrapod footprints from Italy. Most dinosaur ichnosites are located in the Southern Alps (Northeastern Italy, Veneto, Trentino Alto-Adige) with the exception of Mattinata (Southern Italy, Gargano Promontory, Apulia) and the Burano River ichnosite (Central Italy, Central Apennines), where a marine tetrapod reptile trackway was found. The Southern Alpine sites occur in four distinct stratigraphic levels of the Lower Jurassic Calcari Grigi Group whereas the Mattinata site is provisionally assigned to the Upper Jurassic Sannicandro Formation (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian).
In this review, we provide geographical and geological setting, age, ichnotaxonomy and the possible identity of trackmakers for each site. Additionally, we report on the history of discovery, the state of the art in ichnological knowledge and the evolution of methodological approaches and techniques adopted through time.
... This footprint, despite the poor preservation and the lack of the distal digit III, is similar to the morphotype described in the Coste dell'Anglone site (Petti et al., 2011) and assigned to Kayentapus Welles, 1971. Despite the similarities, however, we prefer not to assign an ichnotaxonomical attribution for Pelm.A1, which is therefore classified as an indeterminate theropod track. ...
Dinosaur footprints from the Lower Jurassic of northeastern Italy are well known and, since the first discoveries in the early 1990s, many sites have been described. Tracks are mostly found in the peritidal limestones of the Calcari Grigi Group, deposited on the Trento carbonate platform, now cropping out in the Southern Alps. In 2011, a group of speleologists discovered a new tracksite in the Lower Jurassic Calcari Grigi Group exposed almost at the top of Mt. Pelmo (Dolomites), 3037 m above sea level. Footprints are generally poorly preserved, but it proved possible to recognise some tridactyl footprints with theropodian features (i.e., elongated digit III and narrow interdigital angle) and some possible quadruped tracks whose configuration resembles that of a sauropodomorph trackmaker. Careful examination of the depressions excludes their inorganic origin (chemical weathering). Despite the poor quality of the traces, the Pelmo site is significant because it is the most easterly site ever found on the Trento Platform and the only one which is located north of the Valsugana Fault. This fault system is a major alpine tectonic lineament that separates the classical successions of the Calcari Grigi Group in the Italian Prealps from those located in the Dolomites. Moreover, the discovery of the Pelmo tracks considerably expands the documented area of movement of Early Jurassic terrestrial vertebrates in the northern part of the Trento Platform, extending the size of the Early Jurassic megatracksites of the Southern Alps. RIASSUNTO-[Orme di dinosauro dalla cima del Mt. Pelmo: nuovi dati sulla paleogeografia del Giurassico Inferiore delle Dolomiti (NE Italia)]-Le impronte di dinosauri del Giurassico Inferiore del nordest italiano sono ben note e, dopo la prima scoperta all'inizio degli anni Novanta, sono stati riconosciuti diversi siti. Le impronte si trovano nei calcari pertitidali del Gruppo dei Calcari Grigi, depositatosi sulla piattaforma di Trento e affiorante oggi nelle Alpi Meridionali. Nel 2011, un gruppo di speleologi scoprì un nuovo sito nel Giurassico Inferiore dei Calcari Grigi, situato a 3037 m sul livello del mare, quasi alla sommità del Mt. Pelmo (Dolomiti). La qualità di conservazione delle orme è generalmente scarsa, tuttavia è possibile riconoscere alcune orme tridattile con caratteristiche teropodiane (dito III molto allungato, angolo interdigitale stretto) e alcune orme quadrupedi con una configurazione simile a quella dei sauropodi (o sauropodomorfi). L'attenta analisi delle depressioni esclude la loro origine inorganica (erosione chimica, carsismo). Nonostante la scarsa qualità delle orme, la scoperta del Pelmo è significativa perché il sito è il più orientale mai rinvenuto e l'unico situato a nord della Linea della Valsugana, un importante lineamento tettonico che separa le classiche successioni dei Calcari Grigi nelle Prealpi da quelle delle Dolomiti. Grazie al sito del Pelmo l'area dove si riscontra la presenza dei vertebrati nel Giurassico Inferiore si allarga alla parte settentrionale della Piattaforma di Trento, estendendo le dimensioni del mega-sito ad impronte del Giurassico Inferiore delle Alpi Meridionali.
... The tracks are associated with invertebrate burrows, mudcracks, and wrinkle structures. The latter can be interpreted as the result of ancient microbial mats that primarily may have facilitated the preservation of vertebrate tracks (Marty et al., 2009;Noffke, 2010;Petti et al., 2011). To our knowledge, this tetrapod footprint slab has only been mentioned and figured once (Newell et al., 1976, pp. ...
Tetrapod footprints have long been known from Permian outcrops of the Cheguimi Sandstone in southern Tunisia, but never described in detail. The only recovered specimen preserves vertebrate tracks of two different biospecies. Ichnomorphotype 1 shows affinity with mid-Permian tetrapod tracks from France (Merifontichnus Gand et al., 2000) and South Africa (unnamed tracks); ichnomorphotype 2 is most similar to Middle to Late Permian tracks of France (Planipes Gand et al., 1995) and Italy (Dicynodontipus Rühle von Lilienstern, 1944), respectively. Both kinds of the Tunisian tetrapod tracks can be referred to non-mammalian therapsid trackmakers. The ichnoassemblage is in agreement with the supposed late Middle to early Late Permian (∼Capitanian to Wuchiapingian) age of the Cheguimi Sandstone, although additional finds are necessary to obtain a more precise age control.
... Within this general defi nition, we can fi nd the classical ichnogenera Grallator, Anchisauripus and Eubrontes (Hitchcock, 1858; Lull, 1904; Olsen et al., 1998). These kinds of tracks have been described worldwide from several tracksites and deposits of the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic (Gierliński, 1991; Gierliński & Alhberg, 1994; Olsen et al., 1998; Thulborn, 2000; Gatesy et al., 1999; Lucas et al., 2001; Gaston et al., 2003; Milàn et al., 2004; Clark et al., 2005; Klein & Haubold, 2007; Petti et al., 2011). Furthermore, in recent years, grallatorid-like tracks have been described from younger deposits in the Middle Jurassic of Argentina (De Valais, 2011), the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Spain (Piñuela, 2000; Lockley et al., 2008; Pascual-Arribas & Hernández-Medrano, 2012; Avanzini et al., 2012; Piñuela, 2015), the Late Jurassic of Germany (Diedrich, 2011) and the USA (), and the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Asia (Lockley et al., 2013Lockley et al., , 2015). ...
The MUJA (Museo del Jurásico de Asturias, Jurassic Museum of Asturias) has an interesting collection of theropod tracks that show similarities with the ichnogenera assigned to the Eubrontes-Grallator plexus. In this paper we describe in detail the morphology of 21 specimens recovered from different localities on “The Dinosaur Coast” of Asturias, plus four specimens preserved in outcrops in the sea cliffs of Les Vinaes (Villaviciosa). All the specimens are from the outcrops of the Lastres Formation, which is Kimmeridgian in age. The general morphology of the tracks, the footprint length-width ratio, the mesaxony, low divarication of the digits (II-IV) and the absence of hallux and metatarsophalangeal impressions suggest that the tracks are more similar to Grallator than to any other theropod ichnotaxa. Geometric morphometric analysis (principal component analysis, PCA) based on 2D landmark techniques suggests that they differ from Kalohipus bretunensis (as yet the only Grallator-like ichnotaxon described in the Iberian Peninsula) mainly in the divarication angles and in the projection of digit III.
... Several other ichnotaxa are considered either behavioural/preservational variations (e.g., Gigandipus) or junior synonyms of the four commonly considered valid ichnogenera above. Size has long been the key separating criteria in the GrallatorAnchisauripusEubrontes or GAE allometric plexus (Olsen, Smith & McDonald, 1998; Rainforth, 2005; Petti et al., 2011), and synonymising the three ichnogenera into a single valid ichnogenus (Grallator or Eubrontes) has been long considered and debated (e.g., Olsen, 1980; Olsen, Smith & McDonald, 1998; Rainforth, 2005; Lucas et al., 2006). The ichnogenera Kayentapus and Anchisauripus have been incorporated into the GrallatorEubrontes spectrum largely because of their intermediate size between the two ichnogenera (Olsen, Smith & McDonald, 1998; Lockley, 1998; Milner et al., 2009). ...
Footprint morphology (e.g., outline shape, depth of impression) is one of the key diagnostic
features used in the interpretation of ancient vertebrate tracks. Over 80 tridactyl
tracks, confined to the same bedding surface in the Lower Jurassic Elliot Formation
at Mafube (eastern Free State, South Africa), show large shape variability over
the length of the study site. These morphological differences are considered here to
be mainly due to variations in the substrate rheology as opposed to differences in the
trackmaker's foot anatomy, foot kinematics or recent weathering of the bedding surface.
The sedimentary structures (e.g., desiccation cracks, ripple marks) preserved
in association with and within some of the Mafube tracks suggest that the imprints
were produced essentially contemporaneous and are true dinosaur tracks rather than
undertracks or erosional remnants. They are therefore valuable not only for the interpretation
of the ancient environment (i.e., seasonally dry river channels) but also
for taxonomic assessments as some of them closely resemble the original anatomy of
the trackmaker's foot. The tracks are grouped, based on size, into two morphotypes
that can be identified as Eubrontes-like and Grallator-like ichnogenera. The Mafube
morphotypes are tentatively attributable to large and small tridactyl theropod trackmakers,
possibly to Dracovenator and Coelophysis based on the following criteria: (a)
lack of manus impressions indicative of obligate bipeds; (b) long, slender-digits that
are asymmetrical and taper; (c) often end in a claw impression or point; and (d) the
tracks that are longer than broad. To enable high-resolution preservation, curation
and subsequent remote studying of the morphological variations of and the secondary
features in the tracks, low viscosity silicone rubber was used to generate casts of the
Mafube tracks.
... Matthews, 2008). For this reason DP has been used in many different areas of research, such as topography, architecture (e.g., Grussenmeyer et al., 2002), archaeology (e.g., Sumner AND Riddle, 2008), and of course also palaeontology/ichnology (e.g., Matthews, 2008;Petti et al., 2011;Rowland et al., 2014). The development of DP, in particular of the SFM (Structure from Motion) method, its integration with the methods of classic photogrammetric mapping and the possibility of post-processing and analysis GIS/CAD data, made DP an excellent tool for the production of clouds of points and textured 3D models. ...
Pleistocene carbonate eolianites crop out along the Portuguese Atlantic coast, in both mainland and Madeira islands in Eastern Atlantic. More continuous outcrops are found at the SW coast of Portugal including the only recorded Cenozoic vertebrate ichnosites from Portugal so far. The vertebrate paleoichnology of these formations have yielded at least 16 stratigraphic horizons distributed by 6 tracksites, with mammal and bird footprints and trackways that were found printed in the sandstone bedsets. Photogrammetric analysis and 3D modeling of the most relevant tracksites allowed revising and supporting previous ichnotaxonomic identifications and behavioral interpretations. Small and large mammals’ trackways and footprints attributed to Proboscipeda panfamilia, Bifidipes isp., Bestiopeda isp., Felipeda lynxi, and Leporidichnites malhaoi are described and discussed according to new and recent findings. Probably producers were, respectively, straight-tusked elephant, red deer, fox and wolf, Iberian lynx, and rabbit or hare. Tracks of birds found in two horizons at Pessegueiro island are now ascribed to two morphotypes of Charadriipeda isp.. These tracksites are dated from MIS6?-MIS3-2?, mostly Late Pleistocene.Among those footprints, elephant tracks are particularly important, since it is the first record of elephant footprints in the Pleistocene of mainland Europe and may represent some of the latest occurrences of Elephas antiquus before its final extinction. New data enable to detail further the importance of this vertebrate track record for the changing of the community dynamics, biogeographical isolation and extinctions in the transition for the Last Glacial.
... Matthews, 2008). For this reason DP has been used in many different areas of research, such as topography, architecture (e.g., Grussenmeyer et al., 2002), archaeology (e.g., Sumner AND Riddle, 2008), and of course also palaeontology/ichnology (e.g., Matthews, 2008;Petti et al., 2011;Rowland et al., 2014). The development of DP, in particular of the SFM (Structure from Motion) method, its integration with the methods of classic photogrammetric mapping and the possibility of post-processing and analysis GIS/CAD data, made DP an excellent tool for the production of clouds of points and textured 3D models. ...
Pleistocene carbonate eolianites crop out along the Portuguese Atlantic coast in several areas distributed between latitudes 30°03'N (archipelago of Selvagens) and 41°54'N (North of Portugal). More continuous outcrops are found at the SW coast of Portugal, being the Late Pleistocene Malhão Dune Field the only one that held vertebrate trace fossils. This study describes the paleoichnology of the Malhão Dune Field where at least 14 stratigraphic horizons with mammal and bird footprints and trackways were found and the first vertebrate tracksites from all the Cenozoic from Portugal were previously reported. Tracks of birds ascribed to Gruipeda maxima, as well as small and large mammals tracks and footprints attributed to Leporidichnites malhaoi, Bifidipes isp., Bestiopeda isp. and Proboscipeda panfamilia are described and discussed according to new findings and comparison with global bibliographical compilations recently published. These tracksites are dated from OIS6?-OIS3, mostly Late Pleistocene. Among those footprints, elephant tracks are particularly important. Concave epirelief footprints show 3 foot-off toe imprints and heteropody in a narrow gauge. The presence of at least three parallel trackways and a new trampling site points to gregarious behavior attributed to Elephas antiquus. The ichnospecies Proboscipeda panfamilia, found in Malhão and Pessegueiro sectors, is the first record of elephant footprints in the Pleistocene of continental Europe and represent some of the latest occurrences of Elephas antiquus in Portugal, before final extinction in Europe, with the migration of herds across Malhão Dune Field some 35000 years ago. Tracks of hare may be also unique for the fossil record. New data enable to detail further the importance of this track record for the changing of the community dynamics in the transition for the Last Glacial.
We provide a list of contribution by Italian scientists to tetrapod ichnology with papers on both material from Italy and abroad. Foreign author's contributions on tetrapod ichnology based on material from Italy are also considered. The list updates the previous one published by D'Orazi Porchetti et al. (2008) and, as a result, includes works from 1869 up to now. Following the previous reference list, papers of non-Italian researchers on foreign material are reported when the material was found on Italian territory at the time of publication.
The morphological study of geological hand samples has a wide variety of applications in the geosciences, which is conventionally accomplished by measuring the distance between features of interest on the sample's surface. Close-range three-dimensional (3D) laser scanners provide an opportunity to study the form and shape of geological samples in a digital environment and has been increasingly utilized in fields such as paleontology, rock mechanics and sedimentology, with some uptake in planetary sciences and structural geology. For paleontological studies, primary applications are in quantitative analysis of fossil morphology and integration into 3D animated models for understanding species movements. In the field of rock mechanics, typical uses of 3D digital geological hand sample models include quantifying joint roughness coefficient (JRC), determining the surface roughness of rock samples, and assessing morphological changes over time due to processes such as weathering. In the field of sedimentology, such models are incorporated to characterize the shape of sediment particles and to calculate key parameters such as bulk density. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of established literature that includes substantial use of digital geological hand samples acquired from 3D close-range (<1 m target distance) triangulation laser scanners in an effort to identify opportunities for future progress (such as global data sharing) as well as challenges specific to the nature of geological samples (e.g., translucency) and geoscientific workflows (on and off-site).
Vertebrate fossil tracks have been studied through 3D modelling techniques during the last two decades to improve tracking procedures. Different laser scanners and software have been used during field investigation and this differentiation caused incompatibility between many analysis programs. Post processing procedures are not standardized among scientists and file precision gives different results in additionally constrain comparison. The starting point to find a solution to the problem is to point out the main technologies used to collect data in the field. The resulting protocol does not oblige to uniform hardware but it suggests combining different laser scanners with a minimum post processing to optimize the result. Important linking would be to use 2D relief as a reference to organize 3D tracking procedures. Saving formats during post processing are improved by setting fixed landmarks integrated in the 3D model in a multitask file. The D.I.C.O.M. medical standard (*.cdm format) and the 3D printing international standard (*.stl format) when combined, may be a good solution for uniforming the format. This approach might be the first step for the standardization of source and derived files and the creation of a worldwide 3D ichnological catalogue. This will allow to create a scientific improvement in terms of reproducibility and comparison of the experience.
A stratigraphical revision of the Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic succession of the western Southern Alps (Varese area) leads to the introduction of one new lithostratigraphical unit: the ?upper Hettangian-lower Sinemurian Alpe Perino Limestone and the recognition, also in the western Lombardy, of the Rhaetian Zu Limestone, consisting of subtidal cycles, with inner platform facies at the base (Campo dei Fiori Dolomite). These formations represent lagoonal-peritidal to subtidal carbonate depositional systems. A locally angular unconformity between the Rhaetian (or the lower Hettangian) and the upper Hettangian-Sinemurian formations, characterised by 'terra rossa' paleosols and pedogenetic carbonate breccias, can be correlated through all of the investigated profiles. The Lower Jurassic paleogeography of the western Lombardy Basin was characterised by an emerged area from Hettangian until earliest Sinemurian times in a warm humid paleoclimate. The Alpe Perino Limestone represents a small peritidal to subtidal carbonate platform developed only in a shallow-water gulf of the M. Nudo area. The platform was surrounded by a wide emerged area (island or peninsula?), in the west to southeast, and by open subtidal and basinal environments, in the east to northeast (M. Generoso basin).
Here we report the first finding of Asteriacites lumbricalis in the Lower Jurassic of the Trento Platform. Palaeoenvironmental indications given by the presence of this trace fossil are added to the stratigraphical and sedimentological data for the Coste dell'Anglone dinosaur ichnosite. We suggest that during the middle-late Sinemurian this geographical sector was occupied by marginal-marine, tidal flat embayments with possible presence of a not to far fresh water source. This would have been necessary to sustain the existence of sedentary populations of dinosaurs recorded in the deposits that directly overlie those preserving the trace fossil described herein.
The Early Jurassic strata of the Mecsek Coal Formation of southern Hungary revealed new dinosaur tracks. Two ichnospecies of Grallator tuberosus (Hitchcock 1836) Weems 1992 and Kayentapus soltykovensis (Gierliński 1991) comb. nov. have been recognized. The ichnotaxonomy of Kayentapus is emended and supplemented by a ichnotaxon previously designated as "Grallator (Eubrontes) soltykovensis".
All dinosaur footprints from China named in the literature are briefly reviewed. The first dinosaur footprints were found in 1929; since then 16 ichnogenera belonging mainly to theropods and ornithopods have been identified. Very few Triassic footprints have been found, but Jurassic footprints are common in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, and northeast China, and afford some useful correlations with other areas. Cretaceous footprints are known from Hunan and Sichuan provinces and, recently, from Nei-Monggol and Xizang (Tibet). The ichnogenus Jeholosauripus is reassigned to Grallator, and Kuangyuangpus is identified as Batrachopus (a non-dinosaurian ichnogenus). -Authors
Latest Triassic and Early Jurassic extension of continental crust capped by a shallow water carbonate platform in the Southern Alps (northern Italy) resulted in the episodic creation of an array of half-grabens with west-tilted floors, each bounded by an east dipping master normal fault. Faulting, platform drowning, and basin formation progressed stepwise from west to east over a period of about 20 million years. The foundering of each successive half-graben resulted in formation of a sequence-bounding unconformity over the remainder of the surviving platform. The consistent polarity of the tilted blocks suggests they may be the shallow, brittle-crust expression of lithospheric extension along an east-dipping simple shear. -from Authors
