Istria on the Internet - Paleontology

An Odd Dinosaur Bone from the Lower Cretaceous of Istria (Croatia)
(Uno strano osso di dinosauro dal Cretaceo inferiore dell'Istria (Croazia)

Fabio M. Dalla Vecchia

Description

The bone shown in figure 1 (not provided) comes from the late Hauterivian-early Barremian site of Valle/Bale and has been already figured in BOSCAROLLI et al. (1993, fig. 23). It is a partial remain of a narrow, low and elongated skeletal element. It widens from one broken extremity to the other (i.e. it was probably fan- or spatu1a-shaped). It has a convex side crossed diagona11y by the "ridge" formed by the opposedly sloping parts of this side (see figs. 1A, C). This side is thick and it is maximum thickness is reached at its margins with the opposite side. The latter is flat (fig. 1B) and thinner than the convex one. It is completely collapsed inside (fig. 1C), showing that the skeletal element was ho11ow (figs. 1B, C); the spongy structure you see is not bone but limestone extremely pierced by living lithophagous organisms). The cross-section at the widest extremity (the other deformed by crushing) is triangular (roof-like) (fig. 1C).

Discussion

The overall shape of the bone is reminiscent of a scapula. However, usually dinosaur scapulae are not hollow inside. Furthermore, I compared (directly on the specimens and by bibliographic sources) the bone to several scapulae of different dinosaurs and no one fits with this bone. I think it could represent a spine. I saw in Buenos Aires and Plaza Huincul the dorsal osteoderms of the sauropod Augustinia ligabuei (BONAPARTE, 1999) from the Aptian ofPatagonia and I have found some resemblance. Suggestions and ideas are welcome.

Acknowledgements

I thank Jose Bonaparte for his kind hospitality in Buenos Aires.

References

BONAPARTE J. F. (1999) - An armoured sauropod from the Aptian of northern Patagonia, Argentina. In TOMIDA Y., RICH T.H. & VICKERS-RICH P. (eds.), Proceedings of the Second Gondwanan Dinosaur Symposium, National Science Museurn Monogr. n. 15, pp. 1-12.
BOSCAROLLI D., IAPROCINA M., TENTOR M., TUNIS G. & VENTURINI S. (1993) - Prima segnalazione di resti di dinosauro nei calcari hauteriviani di piattaforma dell' Istria meridionale (Croatia). Natura Nascosta, n. 7, pp. 1-20.

Source:

Fabio M. Dalla Vecchia, "An odd dinosaur bone from the lower Cretaceous of Istria (Croatia), Uno strano osso di ninosauro dal Cretaceo inferiore dell'Istria (Croazia), Natura Nascosta (2001), No. 22, pp. 34-35.

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