Dinosaur footprints in the Lower Hauterivian deposits of Palud Cove in Istria, Croatia

Sixteen dinosaur footprints are exposed along the upper-bedding surface of a single lower Hauterivian limestone layer in Palud Cove (western Istria, Croatia). This footprint-bearing horizon is part of the thick Mesozoic stratigraphic succession of the Adriatic-Dinaridic Carbonate Platform. The early Hauterivian age of these deposits is based on their microfossil content, which is dominated by ostracods, benthic foraminifera and calcareous green algae (dasycladales). The footprints are circular to elliptical in shape, with no distinct digit impressions (with one possible exception), and with average length of 26 cm. Most footprints have a well-defined expulsion rim produced by the compression and displacement of the waterlogged substrate caused by the feet of the dinosaurs. All of the footprints are nearly the same shape and size, which indicates that they were produced by the same kind of trackmaker -- likely a sauropod dinosaur. These animals left their footprints on the top of an intertidal and shallowing-upward succession during ephemeral subaerial exposure of the fine-grained carbonate sediment.