Italy is not precisely renowned for dinosaurs. In comparison to its exceptional artistic and archaeological heritage, dinosaur fossils are really rare. Throughout the reign of dinosaurs, between 230 and 66 million years back, the ancient Mediterranean location would have been tough to map, formed by many small islands far from all significant mainlands– Europe, Africa, and Asia– inappropriate to sustain large animals like the dinosaurs. The palaeontological website of Villaggio del Pescatore, with individuals from ZOIC working to draw out the fossils from this impressive dinosaur trove. This indicates that not only small islands identified the ancient Mediterranean, but numerous migratory routes for big terrestrial animals like the dinosaurs might have been possible throughout land bridges of what we nowadays call Italy.
An adult and 2 juvenile people of the dinosaur Tethyshadros insularis revealing the different appearances exhibited by fully grown and immature specimens in the ancient environment of Villaggio del Pescatore, the first region in Italy preserving numerous dinosaur individuals of the exact same types. Credit: Davide Bonadonna
A dinosaur trove in Italy rewrites the history, location, and advancement of the ancient Mediterranean location.
Italy is not exactly renowned for dinosaurs. Throughout the reign of dinosaurs, in between 230 and 66 million years earlier, the ancient Mediterranean area would have been hard to map, formed by countless small islands far from all major mainlands– Europe, Africa, and Asia– inappropriate to sustain big animals like the dinosaurs.
Now, a new study published on Scientific Reports and collaborated by researchers from the University of Bologna reveals the first palaeontological website with several, remarkably complete dinosaur skeletons from Italy: the Villaggio del Pescatore website, located in the Duino-Aurisina municipality, near Trieste, in north-eastern Italy.
The skeleton of Bruno, an adult person of the dinosaur Tethyshadros insularis described in this brand-new study. Credit: P. Ferrieri (courtesy of Soprintendenza Archeologia, belle arti e paesaggio del Friuli-Venezia Giulia).
These lovely skeletons come from the types Tethyshadros insularis and represent the most significant and most total dinosaur ever found in this Country. The team explains the skeletons of some of the most beautiful and beautiful dinosaurs from the website (in particular of a brand-new private nicknamed “Bruno”) and highlights the event of seven (most likely eleven) people at the Villaggio del Pescatore.
Skeletal reconstructions of the 2 people of Tethyshadros insularis, with the immature specimen nicknamed “Antonio” (above) and the fully grown, recently explained skeleton of “Bruno” listed below. Credit: University of Bologna.
Dinosaurs are not the only fossil remains from the site: fish, crocodiles, flying reptiles and even little crustaceans offer a brilliant photo of an ancient ecosystem that has no equal around the world. The unique fossils collected from the Villaggio del Pescatore can be admired in Trieste at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, approved on deposit by the Italian Ministry of Culture.
The palaeontological site of Villaggio del Pescatore, with individuals from ZOIC working to extract the fossils from this astonishing dinosaur trove. This supported the incorrect analysis that the reasonably little, first dinosaur skeleton found at the website (nicknamed “Antonio”), was in fact a “dwarf” types, an example of the so-called “island rule” (the evolutionary miniaturization of bigger animals in an insular environment due to the deficiency of resources).
The bones of “Antonio” under the microscope, revealing the bone cells (black, circled dots): the fossilized bone tissues were analyzed to presume the relative age of the dinosaur skeletons at the time of their death. Credit: University of Bologna.
In this new study, the research team files that “Antonio” is an immature person, whereas “Bruno,” which is bigger in size, represents an older individual– and that could have been still growing at the time of its death.
The skull of “Bruno,” the freshly described skeleton of the dinosaur Tethyshadros insularis. Credit: A. Giamborino (courtesy of Soprintendenza Archeologia, belle arti e paesaggio del Friuli-Venezia Giulia).
New geological information gathered by the group also supplied the age of the website and its fossils: around 80 million years earlier, in the Cretaceous duration. This has to do with 10 million years older than formerly believed: rather a very long time even when dealing with dinosaurs. At that time, what is now north-eastern Italy was a land dealing with a huge ocean however connected to western Europe and Asia. This indicates that not just small islands identified the ancient Mediterranean, however numerous migratory routes for large terrestrial animals like the dinosaurs might have been possible across land bridges of what we nowadays call Italy.
A simplified evolutionary tree revealing where Tethyshadros would fit in between its hadrosauriform loved ones, the so-called duck-bill dinosaurs. Credit: University of Bologna.
This brand-new research study highlights not simply a first in terms of extraordinary findings, however most notably the pivotal function of the Italian dinosaur fossil record for examining important clinical hypotheses on these ancient animals. As the site is currently secured from the Italian organizations, brand-new research and didactic activities might represent a chance to consist of the paleontological and geological heritage in the “need to see” list while checking out the “Belpaese.”.
Recommendation: “An Italian dinosaur Lagerstätte reveals the pace and mode of hadrosauriform body size evolution” 2 December 2021, Scientific Reports.
The scientists associated with the study are: Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza (University of Vigo), Matteo Fabbri (Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago), Lorenzo Consorti (University of Trieste and Geological Survey of Italy– ISPRA), Juan Cantalapiedra (Universidad de Alcalá), David Evans (Royal Ontario Museum and University of Toronto), Federico Fanti and Marco Muscioni (University of Bologna).
