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.

Not easy to explain

The majority of the tracks and traces are not well preserved and thus harder to interpret, if the interpretation is possible at all.
I have photographed something that looks like a sequence of rhytmical skratching of the shallow sea floor My first guess was: the small pterosaur swim traces (highlighted in the circles); the second guess is the water bird swim traces; the third is the trace fossils of fish fins swishing along bottom of shallow water;... or the artifact. Which one would you choose?
The age is Mid-Cretaceous (late Albian) of Pula.

Back to tracks

This is in fact the first iguanodontoid track I have discovered in Pula (above). My interpretation on the right (the red outline). Note the size compared to my big feet (# 46). It is Late Albian - Mid-Cretceous (about 100 mya). The same rock surface is dinoturbated mostly by large iguanodontoids and sauropods. Also, it is weathered, due to the vicinity of the open sea.

A bit smaller "Iggy" track I have discovered about a kilometre further down the beach (resort in Pula)

  A nice manus pes set track of a large pterosaur I have found on the same beach as the Iggy in the top photograph. There are three pterosaur trackways on that spot.

 A dinoturbated rock. Probably by the ankylosaurs whose trackways I have found near by. (Pula - Late Albian)

A small titanosaur left pes track. It was probably a subadult. The outcrop is heavily dinoturbated by the very large sauropods, theropods and ornithopods. Late Albian of Pula.

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?

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:

Nyctosaurus - a pterosaur with a large crest (BDW repost)

This is a repost from my "extinct" Geocities site.

Illustration of Nyctosaurus KJ2 flying - by Beri (digital), Copyright © 2004 BERI


Christopher Bennett from University of Bridgeport Bridgeport, CT, described a couple of exciting fossil specimens of pterosaurs: Nyctosaurus - a pterosaur with a large crest
Bennett S. C. 2003. New crested specimens of the Late Cretaceous pterosaur Nyctosaurus. - Palaeontologische Zeitschrift, 77 (1): 61-75, 6 figs., 1 tab.; Stuttgart.


Nyctosaurus turned out to have an extremely large cranial crest nearly three times the length of the skull and bifurcating into an upward extending and a shorter backward extending ramus. Whether these supported a sail-like membrane is at the moment a pure speculation. As Chris notes: "I discussed the question of a membrane between the two rami of the crest in the paper and concluded that there was no evidence of any membrane between the rami and good reason to think that there was not one. Despite that, for some reason that I cannot understand everyone else seems to think that there was a membrane between the rami." Evidence is based on 2 specimens in a private collection. No species name is applied and the specimens are refereed to as KJ1&KJ2.

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 The Main Brijun (Istria, Croatia) Early Cretaceous scene some 125 mya. Digital painting by Berislav Krzic: