Tuesday 4 November 2014

Ankylosaur tracks : the perfect match


I have said it before and I am saying it now: dinosaurs are a very convincing evidence that continents were connected in the distant past (100 mya). I have found a perfect example. An akylosaur Sauropleta-like footprint shape from the New world matches almost perfectly the footprint I have found near Pula, Istria. The red outline is the Texan ankylosaur ichnospecies from the Mid-Cretaceous. I have placed it on top of the ankylosaur footprint (left pes) photo I took. It is a part of a dinoturbation with several tracks preserved. One of numerous in Pula's vicinity. I have only adjusted the size. The shape is undistorted. It appears as if the same or very similar morphotype: one from the North America and the other from Europe. The footprint is about half a meter long. It was a  giant animal! But I have found even larger ankylosaur footprints measuring over 70cm in length!



The funny story behind this find was that I thought I have found a theropod trackway. Only analysing the photographs back home on my PC, it dawned to me it must have been an ankylosaur. It is the first find of this dinosaur track on the Adriatic Dinaridic Carbonate Platform (ADCP).





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