Ancient Reptile Footprints in Australia Push Back Evolution Timeline by 30 Million Years

Fossilized footprints discovered in Australia suggest that reptiles may have evolved 30 million years earlier than previously thought. The tracks, found in the Snowy Plains Formation in Victoria, date back 350 million years to the Carboniferous period. This discovery challenges the existing timeline of amniote evolution. The footprints appear to have been made by a small, reptile-like creature with clawed feet. According to John Long, a palaeontology professor at Flinders University, this is the oldest evidence of reptile-like animals walking on land. The find pushes back their evolution by 35 to 40 million years compared to previous records. The implications of this discovery are significant for understanding the early evolution of tetrapods. Per Ahlberg, a paleontology professor at Uppsala University, expressed astonishment at the find. He noted that the single rock slab bearing the tracks challenges existing knowledge about when modern tetrapods evolved.