Fossil traces that highlight – for the first time – the presence of dinosaurs in Sardinia. This is the exceptional discovery made in the countryside of Baunei, in Ogliastra, during the filming of a documentary on the geomorphological landscape of the island. They were identified by the scientific team composed of professors Antonio Assorgia, Sergio Ginesu and Stefania Sias, former professors at the Universities of Sassari and Cagliari.
The footprints, preserved in rocks dating back to the Jurassic, are from a theropod dinosaur that – until now – had never been reported in Sardinia. Thanks to this exceptional discovery, it was possible to reconstruct the animal and the environment in which it lived : it was a bipedal predator, which moved on stretches of coast characterized by marshy areas and subject to tides.
The dinosaur is dated to the Middle Jurassic, about 165 million years ago . The rocky surface where its footprints were found also showed signs of other contemporary species: the first direct evidence of the presence of dinosaurs in the Sardinian Mesozoic.
Tomorrow, Friday 11 April, at 10.30 in Piazza San Pietro in Sassari , the discovery will be presented at the headquarters of the non-profit association Regina Margherita , together with the first results of the analyses.
(Unioneonline/r.sp.)
