Eva Sacchi

Dinosaur Tracks as Paleogeographic Constraints: New Scenarios for the Cretaceous Geography of the Periadriatic Region

A really unexpected finding of sauropod and theropod footprints in southern Latium raises to four the number of the trampled levels recognized in central and southern Italy. After the recent findings in Latest Jurassic and Early, mid and Late Cretaceous carbonate platform deposits of the Periadriatic region, dinosaur footprints seem to provide very important paleogeographic constraints for reconstructing the geodynamic history of the Mediterranean area. The presence of a varied ichnoassociation makes acceptance of the current paleogeographic models concerning the relative and absolute position of the Laziale-Abruzzese-Campano and of Apulian-Dinaric domains during the Late Cretaceous more and more problematic. Dinosaur footprints, combined with other paleontological data, demonstrate that these areas were never completely pulled apart by deep seaways, while frequent or continuous links between them, and to southern and northern mainlands, probably persisted. These data also allowed us to improve our understanding of the timing of the Mesozoic plate motion in this segment of the Western Tethys.

Jurassic Dinosaur Footprints from Southern Italy: Footprints as Indicators of Constraints in Paleogeographic Interpretation

Abstract Three loose blocks, rich in dinosaur footprints, were found in a small pier at Mattinata (Gargano Promontory, Foggia, Italy), most probably quarried from the Upper Jurassic Sannicandro Formation. All of the footprints in the blocks are ascribed to medium-sized theropod trackmakers. Recent track discoveries from both the Early Cretaceous San Giovanni Rotondo Limestone and the Late Cretaceous Altamura Limestone, as well as this new discovery, reveal the consistency of terrestrial associations along the southern margin of the Tethys Ocean in the peri-Mediterranean area at the end of Jurassic through Cretaceous times. The presence of these dinosaur-track-rich levels within marine sediments of the Apulia Platform underlines the relevance of dinosaur footprints as a means of constraining paleogeographic reconstructions.

A huge caseid pelycosaur from north−western Sardinia and its bearing on European Permian stratigraphy and palaeobiogeography

Skeletal remains, some loose on the surface and others still embedded, have been recovered from the uppermost part of an outcrop of the Permian Cala del Vino Formation located near Torre del Porticciolo (Alghero, Nurra, NW Sardinia). Taphonomic analysis suggests that all the elements pertain to a single individual; ongoing studies indicate the fossil represents a large caseid close (or referable) to Cotylorhynchus; otherwise restricted to a narrow geographic and stratigraphic zone of the central USA. The new finding, the first of a caseid in Italy and one of few in Europe, enlarges the known distribution of the family and provides a significant and key chronostratigraphic constraint for the continental succession of this area and, in turn, helps establish a stratigraphic framework for the Permian units cropping out in Italy and southern France.

Dimetropus osageorum n. isp. from the Early Permian of Oklahoma (USA): A Trace and its Trackmaker

A new ichnospecies is named as Dimetropus osageorum n. isp. within the ichnogenus Dimetropus Romer and Price, 1940. The new ichnotaxon comes from the Lower Permian Midco Member of the Wellington Formation, cropping out near Perry, Noble Co. (Oklahoma, USA), and differs from congeneric ichnospecies in the apparent heteropody and in the proportionally shorter digits. The characters of the new ichnotaxon, together with comparative analysis of footprints and of known skeletal remains, suggest referral of the trackmaker to the Caseidae, although edaphosaurid affinities cannot be excluded. Tracks referred to Dimetropus exhibit wide variation, and their respective trackmakers may be ascribed to an accordingly wide range of different zoological taxa among non-therapsid Synapsida and not only to Sphenacodontidae as has been generally believed. At the same time, the process of attributing ichnotaxa, on the basis of well preserved tracks and by comparison with known skeletal remains, is validated.

Sometimes They Come Back: Recovery and Reinterpretation of a Trackway Slab from the Permian Coconino Sandstone of the Southwestern United States

When a fossil vanishes to a private collection, it must be considered lost to science because, frequently, it is no longer available for study. Fortunately some fossils occasionally are regained. We had the opportunity to recoup an interesting footprint-bearing slab that was part of a private collection in Italy. The specimen, found in 1992 near Seligman, Arizona (USA) was described, before disappearing, as one of the best fossil examples of vertebrate (Chelichnus [Laoporus])-on-invertebrate (Octopodichnus) predation. After a careful re-examination of the slab, the primary conclusions of the former describers are demonstrably groundless. The reanalysis of the tracks, as well as peculiar sedimentary structures associated with the tracks, allowed obtaining new information about the depositional environment and the complex interactions between the type of substrate and trackmaker behavior. The re-examination of the specimen also revealed interesting aspects about trackmaker biomechanics.

Forensic Paleontology: A Tool for “Intelligence” and Investigation

Paleontology and facies analysis proved to be useful tools in activities of intelligence and investigation on some criminal cases, as well as in in‐court activities, thus defining the “forensic paleontology” area of study. The definition was given by analyzing its possible specific applications and excluding some marginal activities. The reliability of forensic paleontology was then assessed in light of the results achieved in some actual cases and in an ad hoc simulation. The investigated cases concerned intelligence and ordinary law enforcement activities. Special attention was paid to crimes against the cultural heritage. Ex post re‐examination of the cases substantiated the value of this scientific branch in investigations, while stressing the possible difficulties in explaining its results to lay persons. Therefore, careful preparation of technical and linguistic preliminary notes for judges, prosecutors, and lawyers as well as a special training for consultants are recommended before presenting results as exhibits in in‐court cross‐examinations.