More dinosaur wonders from Pula

Here is a nice, unusual, huge iguanodontoid footprint on one of Pula's beaches. Probably the left pes, missing tip half of the toe #4 impression/cast. That's one of my latest finds. The left pes track is to the right, not visible in this photo and less preserved.
The middle toe (#3) is slightly curved towards the toe #4. That feature is consistent in most iguanodontoid tracks from Pula.

The sea is just a couple of meters away. When I get tired of rocks and tracks...

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).

More from Pula

 Continuing the new tracks discoveries in Pula. This is a titanosaur right pes print.  The shape is consistent with the morphotype I have found elsewhere.

This footprint is not easy to notice, but it might be a pterosaur footprint. Notice that the water flow ripples go diagonally in the direction of the right upper corner of the photograph, while the footprint is placed vertically. The heel impression is down.

Here is another footprint I would probably assign to a pterosaur. However, this morphotype is somewhat different from the one I have seen in other places on this beach. No manus impression is preserved. One possible explanation is that it is in fact a footprint left by a plantigrade mammal.

A rather bizarre looking footprint of a theropod (left one). The middle toe looks fat and relatively long and the toe #2 left a deep impression of a relatively large claw.

Pula's beaches are also rich with flora.

... and fauna.

Yet another dinoturbation at one of Pula's beaches

Walking along the beach in Pula, yesterday (01/11/2014) I have discovered yet another trackway outcrop. The new tracks are not the first class quality , but it is obvious that it's a dinoturbation and a few tracks can be defined. Besides the omnipresent sauropods, it seems I have found yet another intriguing footprint (the second one) that might have belonged to some "Proto-megalania" (not featured in this article).

A large dinosaur trackway (iguanodontoid or ankylosaur? Possibly under tracks or shallow tracks on a dried surface). This layer is a bit higher than the one featured above (roughly half a meter), but it is the same beach/outcrop.

I have selected this track as the best preserved one from the lower layer, but that doesn't mean I am sure about the track maker. At the site I thought I was looking at the sauropod manus-pes set. Now I am more inclined towards the tyreophoran (ankylosaur?) origin. But maybe it was an ornithopod. Anyway, I need to check out this new site again.