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Lower Jurassic vertebrate burrows in Anina, South Carpathians


Anina represents a fossile-Lagerstatte locality in the South Carpathians, Resita Basin, with an exuberant, very diverse and well preserved paleoflora, within the Lower Jurassic deposits of the continental Steierdorf Formation. Tetrapod tracks (Batrachopus cf. deweyi) were also found, and recently, vertebrate burrows, most probably dug by dinosaurs. A unique European occurrence.

Two types of burrows were described from Anina by Popa & Kedzior (2006): a linear type and a spiral type. The linear type is the most frequent, and the largest, while the spiral type was described only in one occurrence.

Vertebrate burrows were described from South Africa, United States (Morrison and Chinle Formations), and Argentina, but never from Europe, Anina being the first European locality with such structures.
Linear burrow, Steierdorf Formation, Hettangian.
Linear burrow, Steierdorf Formation, Hettangian.
Linear burrow, Steierdorf Formation, Hettangian. Detail of a diverticle, with scratch marks.
Linear burrow divided dichotomously, Steierdorf Formation, Hettangian.
Spiral burrow with iron oxide coating, Steierdorf Formation, Hettangian.
References
Popa, M.E. & Kedzior, A., 2006, Preliminary results on the Steierdorf Formation in Anina, Romania, in Csiki, Z. (Ed.), Mesozoic and Cenozoic vertebrates and paleoenvironments, p. 197-201, Ars Docendi, Bucharest. Full text in PDF format.