How an ammonite got mistaken for a dinosaur skull!

[Italo40]

Dear members, 

today I want to tell you about one of the most epic misinterpreation in the history of italian palaeontology. A story that many newspapers and websites rushed to spread, but that was nothing but a leap! As you read in the title, it's about how an ammonite got mistaken for a dinosaur, in particular for a skull. How that could possibly happen? Let's see.

Vigevano is a small town 31 km (20 milles) west of Milan, northern Italy. Famous since the Middle Ages (Leonardo da Vinci resided there several times), today a castle and a porch are its main attractions. But we will focus on the cathedral: built between the XVI and XVII centuries it is decorated with frescoes, paintings and decorative stones. Many italian churches feature very impressive decorative stones in their architecture: one of the most widely adopted is the Rosso Veronese (Red Verona's marble, even though it is a sedimentary rock!), a red and white stone that usually preserves fossils.

 

In the Vigevano case, a slightly different rock was used, called "Broccatello". Still nowadays it is quarried in the swiss town of Arzo, extremely close to the Italian-swiss border, 60 km (38 miles) north of Vigevano. It is a marine limestone that dates to the Early Jurassic; common fossils found within include brachiopods, sponges and crinoids. Ammonites and other molluscs are more rare. On the map the red arrow shows the location of Vigevano and the purple arrow that of Arzo.

 

Well, in fall 2010 one of the most respected italian newspapers shared the news that a dinosaur skull had been discovered in a slab of "Broccatello" that decorates a balaustrade in the Vigevano Cathedral. Responsible for the discovery was Andrea Tintori, then full professor of vertebrate palaeontology at the University of Milan. He reported that the in the cross-sectioned specimen, a cranium, nasal cavities and numeros teeth could be seen. At the beginning he thought it belonged to an Ichthyosaur or a crocodile, then he was convinced that it was a dinosaur. He also claimed to be intentioned to remove the slab and put it through a CT scan, in order to see it in 3-D. You can see a picture of the balaustrade and of the "skull" (the latter taken by me).

 

After 9 years, however, the slab is still in its original location, untoched. Why? Well, because it is absolutely not a dino skull! A close (but not very sophisticated) analysis can easily show that is actually a cross-section of an ammonite shell: no teeth at all can be seen and other features (like symmetrical knobs or indentations) are not even remotely consistent with the original interpretation. 

(Picture obtained with permission of the original author)

 

So, this is the end of our story: maybe a little disappointing, but in my opinion it teaches that any claim or fact should always be checked two times rather than one!

You can read an article about this story from the Smithsonian Magazine website:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-dinosaur-in-an-italian-church-86306076/

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

What a very interesting tale. Shows how even experts can be led by what they want to see rather than what is actually there. 

Thank you very much for sharing. 

[RuMert]

Common with newbies who see skulls everywhere:)

[Bobby Rico]

Great story thank you for sharing. 

[LiamL]

Just shows that even professors get things wrong in their field

[RJB]

  Interesting.  Many folks have the imagination to see what they want to see. 

 

RB

[FossilNerd]

Thanks for sharing! I think it is a good learning lesson and shows that we are all human and make mistakes. Even experts in a field can be wrong.
 

I believe that we should question everything. Don’t take anyone’s word for it. Even if they are considered an expert. Compare what they say to actual documented fact. That’s one of the reasons why many of us here site documentation when giving an answer to a question. To have some form of factual justification for our given opinion.

 

Pareidolia is hardwired into our brains and is sometimes very difficult to overcome no matter how much we know better! 

[Mark Kmiecik]

Looks like a petrified egg with the embryo showing to me. 

[Italo40]

7 hours ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

Looks like a petrified egg with the embryo showing to me. 

Ahahahah, yeah that fossil lends itself to multiple interpretations!

[Italo40]

On 9/11/2019 at 12:22 AM, FossilNerd said:

Thanks for sharing! I think it is a good learning lesson and shows that we are all human and make mistakes. Even experts in a field can be wrong.
 

I believe that we should question everything. Don’t take anyone’s word for it. Even if they are considered an expert. Compare what they say to actual documented fact. That’s one of the reasons why many of us here site documentation when giving an answer to a question. To have some form of factual justification for our given opinion.

 

Pareidolia is hardwired into our brains and is sometimes very difficult to overcome no matter how much we know better! 

Absolutely, in the fields of science you need to be 100% sure of your assumptions and yet you could be wrong at anytime