Possible shod hominin tracks in the Garden Route National Park, South Africa.
Charles Helm
Trackway findings support the notion of southern Africa being one region where human cognitive and practical ability developed a very long time ago.
The oldest known footprint of our species, lightly ringed with chalk. It appears long and narrow because the trackmaker dragged their heel.
Charles Helm
This was an area in which early anatomically modern humans survived, evolved and thrived, before spreading out of Africa to other continents.
Ancestors of modern-day Cape fur seals left distinctive fossil traces thanks partly to their flippers.
Stuart on Nature/Stuart on Nature
The fossilised seal traces date back about 75,000 years.
A hominin track in Garden Route National Park, lightly outlined in chalk. The track is 24 centimetres long.
Charles Helm
These ancient surfaces, which often preserve the tracks in remarkable detail, are now amenable to inspection and interpretation.
Roberts Rock, before it slid into the sea, provided evidence of ancient vertebrate life.
Charles Helm
Trackways made by vertebrates during the Pleistocene era, dating back to between 36 000 and 140 000 years helps with research into ancient animals.