Main Brijun island tracks

Otok Veli Brijun (Brion) 2012. Mjerim veličinu otiska stopala velikog teropoda, koji je ostavio svoj oblik stopala (left pes) uključujući i metatarzalni dio, što je dosta rijetko.Iscrtao sam oblik crvenom linijom da se bolje vidi forma.  Otisak vrha srednjeg prsta (#3) nedostaje.

From the Main Brijun island

My research of tracks on the V. Brijun island from 2012: a couple of apparent large iguanodontoid footprints facing up and a large theropod footprint between them, facing down in the image.

Pula and Brijuni

The view to the Porer lighthouse from the Verudela resort (Pula 9/2014)

 Tough roots making their way through the limestone.

 The recent sea gull trackway in cement from the Stoja camp (Pula)

The most photographed theropod footprint from the Pogledalo site of the Main Brijun island.

The next theropod footprint in a sequence (it comes after the one the photograph above) of the trackway from the Main Brijun island is the deeper one. The shallow one just bellow it in the photograph was made by another theropod of the same size (or the same one?) a bit later when the mud was a bit dryer. So, these are two parallel trackways. below in the left corner there is a poorly preserved impression of another theropod in the deep wet mud.

A probable small ornithopod (iguanodontoid?) track from the Main Brijun island (the Pogledalo Barremian site).

Some photographs

A photo from my yesterday's bike ride around Ljubljana. This was the end of the path. Even machete wouldn't help me to go through the foliage ahead, so I am turning back to pick up another path for biking.

A piece of "Mesozoic" along my bike ride. The dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides).

Part of the nice path for biking and hiking around Ljubljana.

 From my yesterday's 's bike ride: A suburban jungle with a predatory Felis domesticus.

A giant iguanodontoid track, Pula, Early Cretaceous. The first giant dinosaur track I have discovered in Pula in 2009 was the one partly visible in the left lower corner. At first I thought it was from a giant theropod. Now it seems it belonged to the same iguanodontoid.

A medium size ankylosaur right pes - Main Brijun island, Early Cretaceous (Albian). my interpretation is the green outline.

Poorly preserved small theropod trackways on one of Pula's dinoturbations.

 

  
 Pula beach- Early Cretaceous (Late Albian) - probably a bottom feeding trace of a large fish.

 The Main Brijun island.

Iguanodontoid footprint on the Main Brijun island port pier. Previously it has been interpreted as a theropod track.

A quiz question: Who left this track?(2)

Guess the tetrapod from the track!
 ... and the answer is: a large iguanodontoid
 

 In the image above:
1) Iguanodontian track from the Main Brijun island. Probably left pes footprint. Note my feet size #46 at the bottom of the photograph.
2) A close up of the hoof (ungual) #3. Note the similarities of the print (cast) with the Romanian true ungual fossils (Fig.4). Note that the base, or the distal part of the ungual also left an impression. In fact, I have discovered that a rather well defined toe impression of an iguanodontoid track maker often preserves and thus could be considered a diagnostic feature.
3) My interpretation of the footprint - red outline.
4) Iguanodontian ungual #3 from Romania, Early Cretaceous (left-bottom; right-top of the hoof), from this paper:

 IGUANODONTIAN DINOSAURS FROM THE
LOWER CRETACEOUS BAUXITE SITE FROM ROMANIA
ERIKA POSMOŞANU
ACTA PALAEONTOLOGICA ROMANIAE V. 4 (2003), P. 431-439


As for the results of the Quiz. There's no winner. Nobody even tried guessing. So, am I just imagining things?

The iguanodontoid tracks from the Main Brijun island

You can download a free PDF of the official brochure for the dinosaur tracks of the Brijuni islands
(... in the production of which I wasn't involved): Promenade of dinosaurs .

In the photograph below is presumably one of the iguanodontoid (left pes) footprints on the peer of the Main Brijun harbour. The yellow outline is my interpretation. Track is about 32 cm long. Note the pointed toe #4 impression.

The probable, very shallow iguanodontoid tracks in my photographs are from the Pogledalo promontory of the Main Brijun island. My interpretative drawings are on the right. I have placed my interpretation in red outline from the bottom picture, over the yellow outline in the upper image for comparison. It seems there's a manus impression between the toes #3 and #4 of the right pes. Note the pointed toe #4 impression, just like in the footprint on the peer.The footprint is about 55 cm long.

The iguanodontoids and sauropods would present a perfect prey for the large theropods that left their footprints on the same promontory.

A quiz question: Who left this track?

Guess the tetrapod from the track!

The Cape Pogledalo, Main Brijun island (V. Brijun) site.

  

To tell you the truth, at first, while looking at it in situ, I miss interpreted the impression in the photograph below. Only back at home when analysing the photograph on my PC, I have concluded I had been totally wrong in my attribution. It is not a typical footprint example for the particular ichno family. So, this task is really a tough one! A specific diagnostic feature made me change my initial speculation. After that I spotted the other characteristic features, that were not that obvious at the site but which confirmed my thoughts. Although, this diagnostic feature is not always present in the footprints of these dinosaurs, it helped me resolve my dilemma quite a few times.

  

I'll give you a couple of hints: The site is the Cape Pogledalo on the Main Brijun island (Istria, Croatia), of the Barremian age (early Cretaceous), described in the paper by Dalla Vecchia ; this print was not described in his paper. Note the tip of my shoe (#46) on the right for size. When watched from the side, the track looks like a large shallow bowl. By the icnology standards the footprint is poorly preserved (except one crucial detail).

I challenge the ichnologists to give the answer and the clues in the comments. What kind of animal left this print? 

 Of course, after some time I'll reveal my interpretation and the  diagnostic hot spots.

The usual suspects are: A) theropod, B) sauropod, C) stegosaur, D) ankylosaur, E) iguanodontoid, F) croc, G) pterosaur, H) turtle, I) lizard, J) bird, K) mammal, L) fish

Please, select one of the answers and post it via Comments below:

A tough call

Here is another example of how difficult it is to try to interpret a flawed track. Again, it is probably a theropod from the Main Brijun, Pogledalo promontory. If true, the length of the (right pes) print is about 65 cm. The main problem is that many tracks consist of both positive and negative; the concave and convex (in filling) impression. The prominent part (either positive or negative) of the footprint is usually in the distal toes area. Or there's where the deepest part of the impression is situated, if the mud is deep. But quite often it can be a combination: some toe prints have in filling while some don't.  Than there is the displacement rim problem. It can also be negative or positive. The problem of mud collapse, etc...

An excellent paper (pdf file is free to download) on the subject of track identification:

Intra-Trackway Morphological Variations Due to Substrate Consistency: The El Frontal Dinosaur Tracksite (Lower Cretaceous, Spain)