How ancient reptile footprints are rewriting the history of when animals evolved to live on land

Newly discovered claw-mark fossils suggest reptiles evolved earlier than we thought

New fossilized tracks made by an ancient reptile indicate that these animals evolved tens of millions of years sooner than scientists first thought.

Ancient reptile footprints upend theories about when animals evolved to live on land

Scientists in Australia have identified the oldest known fossil footprints of a reptile-like animal, dated to around 350 million years ago.

Amateur fossil hunters find evolution-altering discovery

The earliest reptile footprints were found by two amateur paleontologists in Australia.

A new discovery is rewriting the history of evolution by millions of years

The emergence of the first land-dwelling animals is estimated to have occurred around 400 million years ago

Scientists in Australia have identified the oldest known fossil footprints of a reptile-like animal, which date back about 350 million years. The discovery suggests that after the first animals emerged from the ocean some 400 million years ago, they developed the ability to live exclusively on earth much faster than previously supposed. "We thought the transition from fin to extremity took much longer," said California State University paleontol…

Ancient footprints from Australia reveal earliest-known reptile

Seventeen footprints preserved in a slab of sandstone discovered in southeastern Australia dating to about 355 million years ago are rewriting the history of the evolution of land vertebrates, showing that reptiles arose much earlier than previously known. The fossilized footprints, apparently made on a mu