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Articles on Fossil tracks
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The trace was probably made between 93,000 and 83,000 years ago, almost certainly by a puff adder.
Trackway findings support the notion of southern Africa being one region where human cognitive and practical ability developed a very long time ago.
Fossilised tracks of a group of plant-eating dinosaurs have been found in Lesotho’s Roma Valley for the first time.
Ammoglyphs – ancient ‘sand art’ – are a relatively new find.
It hasn’t been clear how common the species was on the Cape south coast because its body fossils are predominantly from southern Africa’s west coast.
Studying fossil dung offers another avenue for scientists trying to recreate ancient landscapes.
Track marks are a way to fill in the blanks that sometimes exist in the body fossil record.
The African continent is a rich repository for dinosaur fossils, including teeth and track marks.
The fossilised seal traces date back about 75,000 years.
Fossil footprints are a treasure chest of information.
Collectively, the evidence studied by ichnologists helps to paint a picture of long-gone landscapes and the creatures and plants that populated those spaces.
There is something near-miraculous in the concept of tiny creatures, weighing just grams, making tracks and traces so long ago, that are now evident in rock.
Human tracks registered in aeolianites - cemented dune surfaces - are rare at a global level.
The New Mexico findings could rewrite the history of human migration to the Americas.
There are no body fossils of elephants from this time period, so the available information of how these gigantic animals moved through the ancient landscapes depends entirely on the track record.
Australotitan was a massive long-necked sauropod estimated to weigh the equivalent of 1,400 red kangaroos.
So how accurate is the T. rex’s running speed in that famous Jurassic Park jeep-chase scene?
These surfaces are of profound scientific, cultural, heritage, environmental, and aesthetic importance. Unfortunately, they are threatened - by graffiti.
One avian track, probably made by a large gull or a small goose, was found in sediments that have been dated to about 400,000 years. That makes it the oldest avian track reported from southern Africa.
Top contributors
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Research Associate, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University
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Lecturer, University of Cape Town
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Researcher and curator, Jurassica Museum
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PhD Student, University of New England
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Professor of Geology, University of Colorado Denver
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Senior Research Assistant (Palaeontology), Queensland Museum
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Senior Curator of Geosciences, Queensland Museum, and Honorary Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne
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Assistant Professor, University of the Witwatersrand
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Palaeontologist, Earth Science Faculty, University of New England
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Associate Professor in Hominin Palaeoecology, Bournemouth University
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Professor of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Bournemouth University
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Specialist Scientist, Council for Geoscience
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Associate professor in Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of the Witwatersrand
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Research fellow, Department of Geography, Archaeology & Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand; Research Associate, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University
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Senior Lecturer, University of Leicester
