Articolo scientifico: "Detection of Lower Cretaceous fossil impressions of a marine tetrapod on Monte Conero (Central Italy)"

 

 

Cretaceous Research

Volume 93, January 2019, Pages 143-150 

    

Detection of Lower Cretaceous fossil impressions of a marine tetrapod on Monte Conero (Central Italy)

Luca Natali ^a ⧫,  Alessandro Blasetti ^b,  Giuseppe Crocetti ^b

^a  Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana, c/o Museo Civico di Zoologia, Via Ulisse Aldrovandi, 18, 00197 Rome, Italy

^b  Sistema Museale - Museo delle Scienze dell'Università di Camerino, Via Gioco del Pallone, 5, 62032 Camerino, MC, Italy

⧫ Corresponding author

Abstract

Inside the Conero Natural Park, in Central Italy, on the top layers of the Maiolica Formation belonging to the Umbria-Marche succession, were discovered 11 depressions identified as a fossil trackway in an area forbidden to the public for safety reasons. We collected data about their dimensional and morphological characteristics, together with photographic documentation and cast collection, in an area difficult to reach. This data, with the characteristic alternation and the almost straight line of the depressions, together with the nature of the sediment on which they were imprinted, lead us to believe that were discovered imprints constituting a trackway generated on a deep seabed. Furthermore, the results of our studies allow us to hypothesize that the series of tracks may have been impressed by the fore-paddles of a Lower Cretaceous marine tetrapod, a reptile not yet identified. According to current knowledge, the examined tracks seem to be unique for this period and rare for the deep seabed paleoenvironment.

Keywords

Ichnofossils; Marine reptile; Tetrapod; Lower Cretaceous; Central Italy; Monte Conero

1. Introduction

This paper comes deals with the discovery, by the senior author L. Natali, of ichnofossils, interpretable as imprints impressed in deep sea sediments, within the Natural Park of Conero. Shortly after the discovery, Natali informed Dr. Stefano Finocchi, area inspector for the Superintendence of Archaeological Heritage of the Marche Region, by means of a detailed written scientific report [...]

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327862489_Detection_of_Lower_Cretaceous_fossil_impressions_of_a_marine_tetrapod_on_Monte_Conero_Central_Italy

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Article related to the discovery of ichnofossils made by the researcher Dr. Luca Natali inside the Natural Park of Monte Conero and to the related scientific study conducted by him with collaboration of the researchers of the Unicam Science Museum.

Articolo relativo al ritrovamento di icnofossili effettuato dal ricercatore Luca Natali all’interno del Parco Naturale del Monte Conero e al relativo studio scientifico da lui condotto con la collaborazione dei ricercatori del Museo delle Scienze Unicam.

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- Ultimo articolo scientifico/My last research paper:

http://lucanatali.blogspot.com/2023/10/articolo-scientifico-coneroichnus.html

- Libro divulgativo/popular book:

http://lucanatali.blogspot.com/2022/07/siro-e-il-mistero-delle-sue-impronte-la.html