SCIENCE NATURE SPECIAL : ADRIATIC MYSTERY

OUT of the far-distant past - the thunder of a stampede of turtles?

Researchers say that imprints found by rock climbers on rocky cliffs that ran into Adriatic Sea near Ancona, Italy, may be the traces of a sea turtle stampede 80 million years ago.

Paolo Sandroni, a geologist with the regional government, showed Alessandro Montanari, a geologist a Geological Observatory of Coldigioco, photos of the impressions, and both men wondered what creatures roaming the seas of the Late Cretaceous Period could leave such traces.

They figured the imprints were made by the fins paddling on the sea floor. That excluded fishes and left three reptilian options : Giant Mosasaurs, long-necked plesiosaurs and sea turtles.

But Dr. Montanari's team saw a resemblance to turtle track fossils in another study and figured a buoyant turtle moving near the seafloor and skimming the sediment with the tips of its front flippers would leave side-by-side crescent shapes.

The Publishing continues to Part [2].

The World Students Society thanks Carolyn Wilke.