Since this place is already protected from Italian institutions, new research and didactic activities could represent an opportunity to include geological and paleontological heritage in the “must-see” list when visiting “Belpese”. This new study is not only the first in terms of exceptional discoveries, but most importantly, the vitality of the fossil record of Italian dinosaurs to evaluate important scientific hypotheses about these ancient animals. Or so we believed.Ī simplified evolutionary tree that shows where Tethyshadros fits among relatives of the Hadrosauridae, the so-called Duckville dinosaurs.Credits: University of Bologna
During the dinosaur reign of 230 to 66 million years ago, the ancient Mediterranean region, formed by countless small islands far from all major mainland countries such as Europe, Africa and Asia, is a map. Not surprisingly, the discovery of the first isolated bodies from these animals in the early 1990s created considerable excitement, but was soon thought to be just an exception to the general rules. Dinosaur fossils are extremely rare compared to their excellent artistic and archaeological heritage. Italy is not exactly famous for dinosaurs. Credit: Davide Bonadonnaįlocks of Italian dinosaurs rewrite the history, geography and evolution of the ancient Mediterranean region. Adults and two juveniles of the dinosaur Tethyshadros Insularis, which show different appearances shown by immature and mature specimens in the ancient environment of Villaggio del Pescatore, are the first in Italy to preserve many dinosaur individuals of the same species.