Jurassic tetrapod tracks from Italy. A training ground for generations of researchers

This article reports the state of the art of research on the Jurassic tetrapod footprints from Italy. Most dinosaur ichnosites are located in the Southern Alps (Northeastern Italy, Veneto, Trentino Alto-Adige) with the exception of Mattinata (Southern Italy, Gargano Promontory, Apulia) and the Burano River ichnosite (Central Italy, Central Apennines), where a marine tetrapod reptile trackway was found. The Southern Alpine sites occur in four distinct stratigraphic levels of the Lower Jurassic Calcari Grigi Group whereas the Mattinata site is provisionally assigned to the Upper Jurassic Sannicandro Formation (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian). In this review, we provide geographical and geological setting, age, ichnotaxonomy and the possible identity of trackmakers for each site. Additionally, we report on the history of discovery, the state of the art in ichnological knowledge and the evolution of methodological approaches and techniques adopted through time.