Ancient Footprints: 356 Million-Year-Old Amniote Tracks Discovered in Australia

Fossilized footprints of an amniote (an ancestor of reptiles) dating back 356 million years have been discovered in Australia. This discovery suggests that the origin and evolution of these vertebrates occurred earlier than previously thought. The footprints were found on a sandstone slab from the Snowy Plains Formation in Victoria, Australia. The slab, measuring about 50 cm, contains two sets of footprints believed to be from the same animal. These tracks predate previously known amniote fossils by approximately 40 million years. The well-preserved footprints show long toes with claw-like tips. Researchers estimate the ancient amniote to have been about 80 cm long based on the spacing between the front and back footprints. This discovery implies that the common ancestor of modern amniotes may have existed around 359 million years ago. This pushes back the estimated divergence of tetrapods (the group including amphibians and amniotes) to around 380 million years ago, during the Late Devonian period.