Cretaceous tetrapod tracks from Italy: a treasure trove of exceptional biodiversity

CITTON, PAOLO; PIGNATTI JOHANNES; EVA SACCHI; MATTEO ANTONELLI; PETRUZZELLI MARCO; MARCO ROMANO; WAGENSOMMER ALEXANDER; FABIO MASSIMO PETTI; NINO MARIOTTI; D'ORAZI PORCHETTI SIMONE; ENRICO SACCO

Journal of Mediterranean Earth Sciences

Sapienza Università di Roma

Lugar: Roma; Año: 2020

2037-2272

A!er about thirty years of investigation, the Cretaceous tetrapod track record from Italy has proved to bea ?Rosetta Stone? for improving understanding of the palaeogeographical and palaeoenvironmental evolution of the peri-Adriatic area. In the present contribution, we summarize current knowledge and di"erent interpretations proposed onthe basis of twelve ichnosites from northern, central and southern Italy. #e tetrapod track record is represented by fewichnosites in the earliest Cretaceous, with the bulk of the record reported from carbonate platform deposits of the Aptian-Cenomanian interval and, in the Late Cretaceous, from a extensive-tracksite in Apulia preserving thousands of dinosaurfootprints. On the whole, the ichnological diversity documented by the material indicates a high diversity of trackmakers,among which are sauropods, di"erent kinds of theropods, ankylosaurs and hadrosaurs. #e persistent occurrence ofdinosaur footprints at di"erent stratigraphic levels produced signi$cant questions and constituted a dramatic constraintfor the understanding of palaeogeographical and geodynamical evolution of the Mediterranean area during the Mesozoic,suggesting new and di"erent interpretations that challenged previous reconstructions.