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The migration path of Gondwanian dinosaurs toward Adria: New insights from the Cretaceous of NW Sicily (Italy)
Language
English
Obiettivo Specifico
5T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica
Status
Published
JCR Journal
JCR Journal
Peer review journal
Yes
Title of the book
Issue/vol(year)
/126 (2021)
Publisher
Elsevier
Pages (printed)
104919
Issued date
2021
Abstract
The increasing dinosaur record from Italy questioned classic palaeogeographic scenarios for the Central
Mediterranean area and suggest the proximity of landmass areas and a geographical connection between
Gondwana and Laurasia during Cretaceous times. Besides several track-sites and exceptionally-preserved
specimens (e.g. Scipionyx samniticus), the Italian dinosaur record also consists of isolated bones, among
which the bone fragment of a theropod discovered in north-western Sicily. The bone occurs in a shallowwater
carbonate succession (i.e. Pizzo Muletta, Palermo Mountains) pertaining to the Panormide Carbonate
Platform (PCP). The bone was previously ascribed to the Cenomanian, strongly supporting the
hypothesis of a land bridge connecting Gondwana and Adria via PCP. More recently, new sedimentological
and biostratigraphic studies on the Pizzo Muletta succession have been carried out. The obtained
results allow to predate the stratigraphic position of the dinosaur bone to the late Aptianeearly Albian
and to assess a detailed AptianeCenomanian evolution of this sector of the PCP. In particular, the karstic
overprint of Cenomanian rudist limestones indicate a subaerial exposure of the platform preceding its
drowning during latest Cenomanian times. The new assumptions allow to extend the temporal duration
of the intermittent land bridge between Gondwana and Laurasia at least from Aptian to Cenomanian
times and to add further evidences of the dominant tectonic control affecting the Western Tethys during
Cretaceous times.
Mediterranean area and suggest the proximity of landmass areas and a geographical connection between
Gondwana and Laurasia during Cretaceous times. Besides several track-sites and exceptionally-preserved
specimens (e.g. Scipionyx samniticus), the Italian dinosaur record also consists of isolated bones, among
which the bone fragment of a theropod discovered in north-western Sicily. The bone occurs in a shallowwater
carbonate succession (i.e. Pizzo Muletta, Palermo Mountains) pertaining to the Panormide Carbonate
Platform (PCP). The bone was previously ascribed to the Cenomanian, strongly supporting the
hypothesis of a land bridge connecting Gondwana and Adria via PCP. More recently, new sedimentological
and biostratigraphic studies on the Pizzo Muletta succession have been carried out. The obtained
results allow to predate the stratigraphic position of the dinosaur bone to the late Aptianeearly Albian
and to assess a detailed AptianeCenomanian evolution of this sector of the PCP. In particular, the karstic
overprint of Cenomanian rudist limestones indicate a subaerial exposure of the platform preceding its
drowning during latest Cenomanian times. The new assumptions allow to extend the temporal duration
of the intermittent land bridge between Gondwana and Laurasia at least from Aptian to Cenomanian
times and to add further evidences of the dominant tectonic control affecting the Western Tethys during
Cretaceous times.
Type
article
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