Table Of ContentDinosaur Footprints &
Trackways of La Rioja
Life of the Past James O. Farlow, editor
Indiana University Press Bloomington & Indianapolis
D I N O S A U R
F O O T P R I N T S
& T R A C K W A Y S
O F L A R I O J A
Félix Pérez-Lorente
This book is a publication of Indiana University Press Manufactured in the
Office of Scholarly Publishing United States of America
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street Library of Congress
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA Cataloging-in-Publication Data
iupress.indiana.edu Pérez-Lorente, Félix.
Dinosaur footprints and trackways
© 2015 by Félix Pérez-Lorente of La Rioja / Félix Pérez-Lorente.
pages cm. – (Life of the past)
All rights reserved Includes bibliographical
references and index.
No part of this book may be reproduced ISBN 978-0-253-01515-0 (cl : alk.
or utilized in any form or by any means, paper) – ISBN 978-0-253-01541-9 (eb)
electronic or mechanical, including 1. Footprints, Fossil – Spain – La Rioja.
photocopying and recording, or by 2. Dinosaur tracks – Spain – La Rioja.
any information storage and retrieval 3. Dinosaurs – Spain – La Rioja.
system, without permission in writing 4. Paleontology – Spain – La Rioja.
from the publisher. The Association of 5. La Rioja (Spain) I. Title.
American University Presses’ Resolution QE845.P465 2015
on Permissions constitutes the only 567.90946'354 – dc23
exception to this prohibition. 2014030006
The paper used in this publication
meets the minimum requirements of
the American National Standard for
Information Sciences – Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. 1 2 3 4 5 20 19 18 17 16 15
Contents C
1 La Rioja Footprints 2
2 Ichnology 14
3 The Tracksites 36
4 Conservation of the Tracksites 315
5 Summary 324
· References 341
· Index 353
Dinosaur Footprints &
Trackways of La Rioja
Cameros basin
FRANCE
N Pyrennes
A
E
C
O
C AL Ebro River Depression
T I UG
N T Madrid
A OR
A T L Lisboa P S P A I N IberianM REanDgIeT E R R A N E A N S E A
Tertiary and Quaternary
Guadalquivir River Depression
Mesozoic
Dinosaur tracksites Paleozoic and Precambrian
Betic Cordillera
1.1. Schematic geological and geographical representation of Iberian Peninsula showing
location of dinosaur tracksites (modified from Pérez-Lorente, Romero, and Torcida, 2002).
Locations of outcrops of Mesozoic rocks in Iberian Peninsula that potentially contain dino-
saur fossils are shown in white; areas marked with lines show those that cannot contain
fossils because they are the wrong age. Regions marked with vertical lines have rocks from
before the time of dinosaurs (Precambrian and Paleozoic); regions marked with horizontal
lines are post-Cretaceous (Cenozoic: after the dinosaurs).
2
La Rioja Footprints 1
The Spanish province of La Rioja is an area of the world Introduction
where a huge number of dinosaur footprints have been found, with many
more likely yet to be discovered. This hilly region has many rock slopes
with layers so full of tracks that, if the vegetation, loose rock, and debris
could be removed, would yield from 8000 to as many as 25,000 footprints.
Using the best estimates from some slopes – that is, the maximum esti-
mate from that partial data – there may be as many as 70,000 footprints.
Many of the footprints are so easy to see that the first people to
discover them were likely shepherds or hunters who passed through the
area. However, the identity of the first person to correctly interpret them
is another question. The footprints are so evocative that the inhabitants
of the region have long associated them with animals. In the villages
of Enciso, El Villar, and Poyales, there were people who thought the
footprints now understood to be those of theropod dinosaurs had been
made by giant chickens. In the village of Navalsaz, it was said that the
ornithopod footprints of the Cuesta de Andorra had been made by huge
lions. It is difficult to know exactly how long such claims have been made,
whether the local population even knew about wild animals such as lions,
or whether this interpretation was offered by visitors to the region.
The footprints have also been attributed to animals from medieval
mythology, in some cases inspired by religion. For example, in Igea, it
was said that the footprints had been left by the horse of the apostle James
on his travels. Popular tradition has it that James helped the Christians
in their wars against the Muslims. As with the legendary “mule tracks”
of Setubal in Portugal, there is no end of imaginative interpretations.
In some cliffs to the south of Lisbon (Portugal) there are some dinosaur
footprints which the ancient Portuguese interpreted as being miraculous.
Miguel Telles Antunes (1976) says that according to legend, the Virgin
Mary “Santa Maria da pedra da mua” (or an image of her from the 18th
century) had come out of the sea and ascended to the top of the cliff
while sitting on a mule. During the ascent, the mule left the footprints
on the wall. According to Antunes, this tradition may date back to the 13th
century. In Igea, the “horse’s” footprints are visible near the Santa Ana
chapel, at the place where the apostle’s horse was said to have jumped
3 km to land near the shrine of the Virgen del Villar, where it also left
footprints. Interpretations such as these are to be expected, given the
knowledge of the population. For example, the presence of marine fossils
in many places had to be explained as a whim of nature. Even if no one
could explain why, the sea must have been there. Nature is capable of
3
