My recent find

 My recent problematic find. At first I thought it was a theropod footprint. On a second glance it seemed ornithopod. Now I am thinking - ankylosaur. If so, they were really abundant along the ancient coast.

Yes, it fits the shape of a large Polacanthid left pes impression.

Some Istrian tracks and fossils

This is a piece of a Cretaceous rudist reef I have found on the dry wall somewhere near Banjole in southern Istria. There were even larger pieces of these extinct mollusks. Some big ones reminded me of the elephant tusks. They were to big for me to take them with me.

 In the photograph below is another strange track from one of Pula's beaches. I am not what is it exactly. Was it a small theropod track or a sea bird footprint? It even seems to have been left by a webbed foot.

Observe the possible resemblance with the recent sea gull tracks in the cement.

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:

A sauropod right pes on a building block

 A sauropod right pes on a building block of the Early Cretaceous limestone at the pier near Pula (Istria, Croatia)

I don't remember if I said it before, but Istria has been literary "littered" with the Mesozoic fossils. The dinosaur tracks can be considered as numerous and omnipresent. Which doesn't mean they are easy to find by laymen. One has to learn distinguishing them from common artifacts. The limestone erosion is prone to forming very rich array of shapes.

So, here I am, walking along the beach and looking for some familiar shapes. I get awarded quite often. Here is a nice sauropod (probably a titanosaur) right hind foot print on a building block. The production process in the quarry left it in a rather good shape. Although, the block looks slightly "flawed" because of the dinosaur impression. The photograph was taken on February 15th 2014. Red outline helps you visualise the print. There is a low displacement rim in front of the track, where it should be. The pes measures about 60 cm in length, representing a decent size track maker sauropod. The largest sauropod hind footprints I've found there measure about 130-140 cm in length. Those were true giants! 

Finding dinosaur tracks on building blocks is not that rare either. I've found many myself. Some of the tracks were found by Dalla Vecchia, as described in his paper.