Updating and reinterpreting the dinosaur track record of Italy

•We updated and reinterpreted the dinosaur-track record of Italy.•Three distinct associations have been recognized from Carnian to Maastrichtian.•Data indicate a Late Cenomanian–Early Turonian extensional tectonic phase.•The traditional geodynamics of the peri-Mediterranean area should be re-evaluated.

The recently discovered, and unexpectedly rich, dinosaurian ichnological record of Italy, has proven to be integral to the paleogeographic understanding of the peri-Mediterranean area, and is updated and refined herein. Through analysis of the stratigraphic, spatial, and geodynamic contexts of the entirety of the current ichnological dataset, three distinct associations are recognized (Late Triassic–Early Jurassic, Late Tithonian–Late Cenomanian and Coniacian–Maastrichtian). While the first and last associations can be largely encompassed by pre-existing models, the Late Tithonian–Late Cenomanian assemblage requires further investigation. To account for the spatio-temporal distribution of the ichnological evidence a model that invokes repeated dinosaur migrations from Africa to the Southern Italian Carbonate Platforms up to the Late Cenomanian is needed. At the end of this time interval a still-poorly-known, extensional tectonic phase broke up Adria causing the last dinosaur occurrence locally and requiring a re-evaluation of the geodynamic models for this region.