Ichnological review of the theropod footprints from the Lavini di Marco tracksite (Lower Jurassic, Southern Alps, NE Italy)

Matteo Antonelli ¹, Fabio Massimo Petti ², Enrico Sacco ¹ & Marco Romano ^3
1Dipartimento di Scienze Della Terra e Geoambientali, Università Degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Via Orabona, 4, 70125 Bari, Italy., ²MUSE - Museo delle Scienze di Trento, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, 38122 Trento, Italy., ³Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, I-00185 Roma, Italy.

The Lavini di Marco ichnosite (Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, NE Italy) represents one of the most extensive and interesting European dinosaur tracksites. More than 700 tridactyl tracks were discovered, mapped and studied. Morphological and morphometrical analyses allowed to assign most of the tridactyl tracks to the ichnogenus Kayentapus, although numerous specimens can be referred to the ichnogenera Eubrontes, Anchisauripus and Grallator. The previously hypothesised occurrence of the ichnotaxon Anomoepus was rejected by new analyses. Coelophysoids, Sinosaurus-like theropods and possibly large-sized ceratosaurs are proposed as the most suitable trackmakers. The ichnoassemblage and the putative trackmakers suggest a palaeobiogeographic dispersal between Laurasia and the Trento Platform during the Hettangian, providing a solid constraint for their connection through the northern and western sectors of the Alpine region.