Prehistoric Park (Italy)

Last updated
Prehistoric Park
Fountain rivolta.jpg
Turtles and koi carp in a fountain.
Prehistoric Park (Italy)
45°28′25.40″N9°29′58.78″E / 45.4737222°N 9.4996611°E / 45.4737222; 9.4996611
Date opened1978
Location Rivolta d'Adda, Italy
Land area100.000 m2
Website Official website

The Prehistoric Park (in Italian language: Parco della Preistoria) is an Italian naturalistic park of more than 100 hectares of wood, situated on the outskirts of the Rivolta d'Adda commune, Cremona province, about 20 kilometers east of Milan. The park is adjacent to the homonym Adda river and contains 30 reconstructions of prehistoric animals (including prehistoric men), a hundred semi-liberty wild animals, a botanical itinerary with plants signalled, natural environments (as: a swamp, lawns, lakes, etc.), picnic reggeds areas, a café, playing parks, a labyrinth, and shows of fossils, etc., all along a shaded course. The access to the park is exclusively pedestrian, but access is allowed to bicycles and dogs with leashes. The park is also recognized by various national and local corporate bodies that testify to the validity of the structure as a guide to the environmental education, not only to children, but of adults as well.

Contents

History of the park

Construction of the park began in March 1976, and lasted for two years. From '76-'78, besides the jobs of realization, were added the prehistorical animal reconstructions, realized with scientific attention to detail, to seemingly recreate true animals. In fact, it was possible to create these reconstructions, beginning from the fossils of skeletons that were recovered in various international sites, and then by the study and analysis of the details of musculature, tissues, and skin; in this way, it was possible to create models in miniature, which were then reconstructioned in fibreglass, to recreate them in their natural greatness, just as these animals appeared millions of years ago. Important events in the park's history have been:

Botany

Park flora

Along the left bank of the Adda, the park offers a variety of vegetation and partially wooded formations. The forests of Northern Italy have been subject, for many centuries, to the various agricultural activities of reclamations and deforestations. However, in this line of the river it is, in fact, possible to experience the last hems of the primordial forest, characterized by deciduous leaf trees. The park wood entertains an intermixed variety of trees, such as: poplars, elms, locust trees, etc. The park features a proliferation of wild plants (such as violets, primroses, hawthorns, etc.) and other ancestral cultivations; its brushwood is invaluable.

Wood

The park wood is a mixture of latileaves deciduous trees. The forest structure is divided into three layers: arboreal, shrubby, and grassy. The arboreal layer consists of tall trees (over 15 m on average). The trees foliage of this layer accord an intermittent coverage, giving the impression of an open forest. The shrubby layer is characterized by plants to varying height (from 1 to 7 m). The grassy layer is constituted by various ground plants, including climbing plants, such as ivy.

The swamp

Vegetation in the park swamp. Palude del parco della preistoria.jpg
Vegetation in the park swamp.

In the final part of the course, there is a swamp, bordering on the nearby herons lake (lago degli aironi). It is characterized by an ample curve, evolved in the time with the detachment from the quoted lake (meander). Here it is possible to admire the great variety of vegetation, characterized by: willows and larches; and aquatic vegetation, characterized by: water lilies, nasturtiums, etc.; in the muddy parts are noticed: cattails and marshy reeds. The rest of the vegetation, present in the center of the swamp, includes submerged plants, cried plants, semicried plants, and reeds.

Reconstructions

List of the 32 reconstructions of the kinds on the basis in the order by which the appear along the course.

Related Research Articles

<i>Apatosaurus</i> Sauropod dinosaur genus from Late Jurassic period

Apatosaurus is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period. Othniel Charles Marsh described and named the first-known species, A. ajax, in 1877, and a second species, A. louisae, was discovered and named by William H. Holland in 1916. Apatosaurus lived about 152 to 151 million years ago (mya), during the late Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian age, and are now known from fossils in the Morrison Formation of modern-day Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah in the United States. Apatosaurus had an average length of 21–23 m (69–75 ft), and an average mass of 16.4–22.4 t. A few specimens indicate a maximum length of 11–30% greater than average and a mass of approximately 33 t.

<i>Allosaurus</i> Extinct genus of carnosaurian theropod dinosaur

Allosaurus is an extinct genus of large carnosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period. The name "Allosaurus" means "different lizard", alluding to its unique concave vertebrae. It is derived from the Greek words ἄλλος and σαῦρος. The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to this genus were described in 1877 by famed paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. The genus has a very complicated taxonomy and includes at least three valid species, the best known of which is A. fragilis. The bulk of Allosaurus remains have come from North America's Morrison Formation, with material also known from the Lourinhã Formation in Portugal. It was known for over half of the 20th century as Antrodemus, but a study of the abundant remains from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry returned the name "Allosaurus" to prominence. As one of the first well-known theropod dinosaurs, it has long attracted attention outside of paleontological circles.

<i>Stegosaurus</i> Thyreophoran stegosaurid dinosaur genus from Late Jurassic period

Stegosaurus is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been found in the western United States and in Portugal, where they are found in Kimmeridgian- to Tithonian-aged strata, dating to between 155 and 145 million years ago. Of the species that have been classified in the upper Morrison Formation of the western US, only three are universally recognized: S. stenops, S. ungulatus and S. sulcatus. The remains of over 80 individual animals of this genus have been found. Stegosaurus would have lived alongside dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Camarasaurus and Allosaurus, the latter of which may have preyed on it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests</span> Habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of paleontology</span>

Timeline of paleontology

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinosaur National Monument</span> National monument in Colorado and Utah, United States

Dinosaur National Monument is an American national monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers. Although most of the monument area is in Moffat County, Colorado, the Dinosaur Quarry is located in Utah, north of the town of Jensen, Utah. The nearest Colorado town is Dinosaur while the nearest city is Vernal, Utah.

<i>Barosaurus</i> Diplodocid sauropod dinosaur genus from Upper Jurassic Period

Barosaurus was a giant, long-tailed, long-necked, plant-eating sauropod dinosaur closely related to the more familiar Diplodocus. Remains have been found in the Morrison Formation from the Upper Jurassic Period of Utah and South Dakota. It is present in stratigraphic zones 2–5.

<i>Dryosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Dryosaurus is a genus of an ornithopod dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic period. It was an iguanodont. Fossils have been found in the western United States and were first discovered in the late 19th century. Valdosaurus canaliculatus and Dysalotosaurus lettowvorbecki were both formerly considered to represent species of Dryosaurus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Age of Reptiles (comics)</span> Comic strip

Age of Reptiles is a comic written by Ricardo Delgado published by Dark Horse Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jurassic National Monument</span>

Jurassic National Monument, at the site of the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, well known for containing the densest concentration of Jurassic dinosaur fossils ever found, is a paleontological site located near Cleveland, Utah, in the San Rafael Swell, a part of the geological layers known as the Morrison Formation.

<i>Saurophaganax</i> Allosaurid theropod dinosaur genus from Late Jurassic period

Saurophaganax is a genus of large allosauroid dinosaur from the Morrison Formation of Late Jurassic Oklahoma, United States. Some paleontologists consider it to be a junior synonym and species of Allosaurus. Saurophaganax represents a very large Morrison allosauroid characterized by horizontal laminae at the bases of the dorsal neural spines above the transverse processes, and "meat-chopper" chevrons. It was the largest terrestrial carnivore of North America during the Late Jurassic, reaching 10.5 metres (34 ft) in length and 2.7–3.8 metric tons in body mass.

<i>Marshosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Marshosaurus is a genus of medium-sized carnivorous theropod dinosaur, belonging to the family Piatnitzkysauridae, from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of Utah and possibly Colorado.

The Carnegie Collection was a series of authentic replicas based on dinosaurs and other extinct prehistoric creatures, using fossils featured at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History as references. They were produced by Florida-based company Safari Ltd., known for their hand-painted replicas, from 1988 to 2015, and became known as "the world’s premier line of scale model dinosaur figures."

<i>Stegosaurus</i> in popular culture

Stegosaurus is one of the most recognizable types among cultural depictions of dinosaurs. It has been depicted on film, in cartoons, comics, as children's toys, as sculpture, and even was declared the state dinosaur of Colorado in 1982. Stegosaurus is a subject for inclusion in dinosaur toy and scale model lines, such as the Carnegie Collection.

<i>Diplodocus</i> Genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaurs (fossil)

Diplodocus is an extinct genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaurs known from the Late Jurassic of North America. The first fossils of Diplodocus were discovered in 1877 by S. W. Williston. The generic name, coined by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878, is a Neo-Latin term derived from Greek διπλός (diplos) "double" and δοκός (dokos) "beam", in reference to the double-beamed chevron bones located in the underside of the tail, which were then considered unique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinosaur Ridge</span> Natural heritage site in Colorado, United States

Dinosaur Ridge is a segment of the Dakota Hogback in the Morrison Fossil Area National Natural Landmark located in Jefferson County, Colorado, near the town of Morrison and just west of Denver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleontology in Colorado</span> Paleontological research in the U.S. state of Colorado

Paleontology in Colorado refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Colorado. The geologic column of Colorado spans about one third of Earth's history. Fossils can be found almost everywhere in the state but are not evenly distributed among all the ages of the state's rocks. During the early Paleozoic, Colorado was covered by a warm shallow sea that would come to be home to creatures like brachiopods, conodonts, ostracoderms, sharks and trilobites. This sea withdrew from the state between the Silurian and early Devonian leaving a gap in the local rock record. It returned during the Carboniferous. Areas of the state not submerged were richly vegetated and inhabited by amphibians that left behind footprints that would later fossilize. During the Permian, the sea withdrew and alluvial fans and sand dunes spread across the state. Many trace fossils are known from these deposits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleontology in the United States</span>

Paleontology in the United States refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the United States. Paleontologists have found that at the start of the Paleozoic era, what is now "North" America was actually in the southern hemisphere. Marine life flourished in the country's many seas. Later the seas were largely replaced by swamps, home to amphibians and early reptiles. When the continents had assembled into Pangaea drier conditions prevailed. The evolutionary precursors to mammals dominated the country until a mass extinction event ended their reign.

Sri Lanka exhibits a remarkable biological diversity and is considered to be the richest country in Asia in terms of species concentration.

References

  1. "Prehistoric Park, Rivolta d'Adda". IT.IGotoWorld.com. Retrieved 2022-05-23.