Abstract
Sixteen dinosaur footprints are exposed along the upper-bedding plane of a single Upper Hauterivian limestone layer in the Palud bay (western Istria, Croatia). This distinct footprint-bearing horizon is part of the thick Mesozoic Adriatic-Dinaridic Carbonate Platform stratal succession. Strata at the Palud site are characterized by peritidal (shallow subtidal to intertidal) limestone with several shallowing-upward cycles composed of mudstone, peloidal wackestone/packstone, peloidal packstone/grainstone and fenestral mudstone/wackestone with common geopetal infill. The Late Hauterivian age of these deposits is determined from their microfossil assemblage, which is dominated by ostracods, benthic foraminifera and calcareous green algae Dasycladales. The Palud site dinosaur footprints are circular to elliptical in shape, with no clearly visible digit impressions (except for one questionable example), and are rather large with average length of 30 cm. Most footprints have a well-defined expulsion rim that represents displacement and compression of soft, waterlogged sediment substrate by the weight of the dinosaur. All of the footprints are of nearly same shape and size, which indicates that they were produced by the same kind of tracemaker – likely a sauropod dinosaur. These animals left their footprints on top of a shallowing-upward succession of an intertidal environment during a short subaerial exposure of fine-grained carbonate sediment.
Highlights
This paper represents the first detailed documentation of the Palud dinosaur footprint locality from the Lower Cretaceous (Lower Hauterivian) strata exposed in the southern part of Cape Gustinja in Palud cove, western Istria, Croatia (MEZGA et al, 2007a; Fig. 1)
This paper presents the results of the study on the horizon with footprints produced by a relatively large trackmaker in coastal environments of a large carbonate platform and exposed in the lower part of the Palud succession
The Lower Cretaceous carbonate succession of Palud cove is characterized by shallow-water limestones deposited in peritidal environments with several shallowing–upward cycles
Summary
This paper represents the first detailed documentation of the Palud dinosaur footprint locality from the Lower Cretaceous (Lower Hauterivian) strata exposed in the southern part of Cape Gustinja in Palud cove, western Istria, Croatia (MEZGA et al, 2007a; Fig. 1). The ADCP was one of the largest Mesozoic platforms in the Mediterranean region (central Tethys) and its strata comprise a heavily deformed, 4-6.5 km thick, Lower Jurassic to Paleocene succession of almost pure carbonate deposits. These strata are part of a thicker (4-8.5 km), predominantly carbonate succession deposited over >270 my (from at least the Carboniferous to the Late Eocene), and which forms most of the present-day Croatian Karst (External or Outer) Dinarides. Tarlao had already observed a possible footprint-bearing surface close to the Palud channel (DALLA VECCHIA et al, 2000)
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