Fossil lizard Portunatosaurus krambergeri Campbell Mekarski et al., Upper Cretaceous, island of Dugi Otok.
Platy limestones are also present inland of Split. At the locality Koprivno near Dugopolje, a marine lizard from the family Halisaurinae was discovered.
Halisaurinae belongs to the group of mososaurs, marine lizards from the Late Cretaceous. They were small to medium sized, with a length from less than 3 metres to 8 or even 9 metres. They usually had relatively slender jaws and many, small teeth, indicating that they likely fedon small fish and other prey. The halisaurines had a characteristic hypocercal tail, indicating they were strong swimmers. Like the other mosasaurs, they survived until the end of the Cretaceous.
Fossil lizard from the group Halisaurinae, Upper Cretaceous, Koprivno near Split
The platy limestones also had some very practical uses: they were used as a roofing material on houses, and so the old stone houses and roofs in Dalmatia and Istria could be considered true architectural masterpieces! They were laid by hand long ago by the former fishermen and farmers, using thin stone slabs from the facies of platy limestones! Though they have been used since ancient time, traditional architecture has only recently begun to recognise their importance, and they should be preserved as a unique example of the use of stone, as a material most important to humans since the dawn of civilisation.
Example of traditional architecture using platy limestone as a construction material, island of Hvar.
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