Spinosaurus aegyptiacus update

 25 years ago, I wrote and illustrated an article on spinosaurs for a Japanese dinosaur magazine. I corrected my reconstruction by making a new tail.

Moj ranokredni mural

„IZGUBLJENI SVJETOVI ‒ pradavni vrtovi devona, karbona i krede“: znanstveno-popularna izložba u Botaničkom vrtu Prirodoslovno-matematičkog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, 2018.- Vidjelo ju je preko 20.000 ljudi. Tko još nije bio ima ponovno priliku jer je postavljena i ove godine. 

Ulaz je slobodan.

Moj mural, koji je dio izložbe, jutros na nacionalnoj HRT

More on tracks

An EK dinosaur trackway. I am not sure about the track maker. It didn't leave a readable signature.

Can you spot the medium sized theropod footprint?

Yet another dinoturbation from the EK mega track site.

A cute critter posing for me.

One less cute but interesting nevertheless.

A poorly preserved giant EK iguanodontoid footprint I discovered this Spring.

Probably by a titanosaur...

Can't say for sure what kind...

The Main Brijun island tracks, again

Although, the Pogledalo track site has been described more than once, still one can find many tracks and traces the previous authors overlooked. Here is a part of the outcrop, showing multiple rock layers. The ripple marks are nicely visible in the lower half of the photo, while a theropod footprint is present in the upper half to the left side.

Some tracks from the Main Brijun island site. The left pes (near my feet) of a large theropod (length of the footprint is about half a meter) and the smaller probably theropod track to the right, going in the opposite direction are clearly visible in the photograph below.

My interpretation of the upper photo tracks.

Searching for tracks in Pula

A 100 million years old ripple marks on one of Pula beaches. I have seen the same pattern and size of ripples in the sand some 1,5 meters under the water while snorkeling.

A large (42 cm long) theropod footprint (Pula, Late Albian). It's situated at the "Ankylosaur dinoturbation" outcrop.

A small crocodilian trackway with some territorial scratch marks (on the right). Late Albian of Pula. Some sauropod, theropod and possibly pterosaur tracks are near by.

The tracks again

A couple of shallow large theropod footprints sticking below the rock. (125 mya) The Main Brijun island.

A dinosaur trackway in Pula (100 mya) probably a large theropod.

 "Is that a dinosaur track on the bottom?"

A probable large fish feeding trace in Pula.

 A strange oval impression in Pula. Might be from a jellyfish.

Jellyfish are still abundant.

 Desperately trying to escape the fierce theropod.

 The wing of a "modern theropod". It is interesting to see how the feathers are attached to the wing of an ostrich.

 More ripple marks of a different pattern and an oval impression as a positive (Pula).

 A large theropod trackway (Main Brijun island).

 Several footprints of some messy large theropods left on the beach about 125 mya.

An early Cretaceous outcrop in Pula.

 A poorly preserved dinosaur trackway near Pula ( a large theropod?)

 Some nice 100 million years old ripple marks from Pula.

A Yeti or a Sasquatch footprint? No way. This is from Pula and it is 100 million years old. This looks like a dinosaur track to me. A very interesting track! If it is a dino track I am speculating about an ankylosaur footprint with a skidding trace. The ankylosaur dinoturbation was just around the corner. I am not sure about this one, because this is a lone one. However, the shape and the size of this "footprint" are similar to the ones from the dinoturbation.

Tracks, tracks...everywhere (3)

I don't know if I have been clear enough, so far. This cape Kamenjak track site is NEW and has not been described yet. Nobody has noticed nor detected these Cenomanian dinosaur tracks. I call it "Kamenjak 3".
I've been analysing my photographs from this site and the site that was described to a certain degree in Fabio's (Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia) paper (Grakalovac promontory), which I have named "Kamenjak1" and all my finds lead to this conclusion: In Cenomanian (late Cretaceous), Istria was a part of a large piece of land (Adriatic Dinaridic Carbonate Platform - ADCP) sustaining viable populations of various types of big dinosaurs. It was either a very large island or still Afro-Arabic  peninsula. Not only that I speculate that a large tyreophoran track is present on Grakalovac (see my previous posts), but it seems quite big ankylosaur was present on this new site, too. While this is still just a possibility because the tracks are poorly preserved (one is outlined, while the other is under my foot), the  theropod footprint beside them speaks for itself. The largest one was some 73 cm long. The print is shallow, because the substrate was already quite dry when it was made, so it effected the mud cracks. The "owner" of the foot must have measured at least 9-10 meters in length! I have outlined the probable prints.

Here is the size and shape comparison of the theropod tracks from "Kamenjak 3" site (red bar is 12cm long). The largest footprint is from the photograph above.

Tracks, tracks...everywhere (2)

I've been to Pula over the Easter holidays, but didn't have time to visit the Kamenjak sites. However,
I tried to analyse the old photographs once again. Here is the result (below). I am positive now that the mid footprint was no ornithopod but a fairly large theropod with very long middle  toe (#3). A smaller theropod (green outline) was crossing diagonally the path of the large one (or vice versa).

In Pula, the first tourists are sunbathing and even swimming in still rather cool sea.

Tracks, tracks...everywhere

The tridactyl dinosaur footprints are omnipresent in the Cretaceous laminated sediments of Kamenjak. The problem is: they are not that easy to spot. Nor they are easy to define, because they are in a different state of preservation left on a varying substrate. Imagine a mud flat. The tide has just receded. The first dinosaurs to cross the mud will leave deep, often collapsing tracks. As the mud dries, the next tracks will be less and less visible. Dinosaurs step over the tracks left by the other dinosaurs (or themselves) earlier, making them deformed. The waves start to wash the shore. Some of the dried tracks will be erased, some will remain and get covered with the sand and mud. The trackways are often messy.
Here is an example of a dinoturbation with various types of tracks. I tried to interpret some of the tracks with the red outline. It seems that at least three kinds of theropods left their footprints. Of course, I couldn't see all the prints. It's hard to notice them and take photographs with a digital camera on a bright sunny day with almost white rocks reflecting light from all sides.

A close-up with somewhat different interpretation of the tracks in the middle of the outcrop (below).
The footprint is about 45 to 48 cm long. If my interpretation is correct, that transfers into a 6-7 meters long predatory dinosaur. You wouldn't want to meet such a beast! The other theropod was obviously much smaller.

A photograph of the Kamenjak's carbonate rocks below. These rocks are hiding hundreds if not thousands of Cretaceous tetrapod tracks for those with enough time, patience, determination and most important a good eye to discover and describe them.

A look back at the Porer islet with the lighthouse which is behind us now. We are walking towards the tip of the cape.

Back to Kamenjak

If you don't mind the heat, the south Istrian cape (rt) Kamenjak is a nice place for trekking and observing the nature in Spring time. You may even get lucky and see the extremely rare monk seal.
It is too hot for me to walk during the Summer, but there are plenty of nice beaches to go to swimming or snorkeling. The islet Fenoliga which has numerous (although weathered) dinosaur tracks is visible in the distance, between the cape on the left and the light house (islet Porer) on the right. One can see the rudist fossils along the way.
While walking towards the tip of the cape I have noticed an interesting rock in a farm's wall (suhozid). It looks to me it might be an impression of a late Cretaceous plant. See below, far left in the photograph. I'd appreciate if any of the blog readers can help me out in identifying the fossil (or is it just an artifact?) Could it be the mid-Cretaceous angiosperm Sapindopsis angusta? In fact, it resembles some kind of psilophyte plant. The environment was supratidal-intertidal  with extensive mudflats, where dinosaurs left their tracks. There were rudist reefs and  stromatolites in the shallow sea of the lagoons.
Maybe it was some kind of an algae washed ashore (?)

A common sight at Kamenjak are sheep herds.

In some places, the path gets quite narrow because of the rich flora.

And here is the view at the Fenoliga islet. So close, but out of reach if you don't have a boat.

Fabio's paper describing the Istrian Cenomanian tracks. Kamenjak and Fenoliga sites are included.

Here are the Istrian Cenomanian theropod prints (outlines) from the paper:

A few of the footprints have a "fat" middle toe (toe # 3) padding. Below is the photo and my footprint interpretation of another theropod track from Kamenjak's outcrop just across the Fenoliga islet. There are at least two more prints of the same dinosaur at the site. None of the images above fit to that morphotype. The foot is about 34-38 cm long. I am not sure about the heel: is it all heel or also a drag mark?

Notice the unusual shape of toe #4. At first I had thought it was a substrate deformation due to the footprint pressure, or some sort of a drag mark, but than I saw the other prints had the same feature. Maybe it's not a theropod at all. Maybe it's an ornithopod track.

After all, the emerald sea looks inviting!