Thursday, January 07, 2010

Oldest landwalker prints found


Tim Sayell sends in an article that details a find that is going to force a rethink on when land animals evolved.

Up until this find, the transition from fish to land animals was thought to have occurred about 380 million years ago, with the earliest complete evidence for a four-limbed animal with digits which date back to between 374 million and 359 million years ago.

Now, with the discovery of distinctive footprints, around an ancient muddy shore-line in what is now Poland, have set the clock back to about 397 million years.

According to the article:
  • had bodies shaped somewhat like crocodiles, with fin-like tails and stumpy legs. And some of them were pretty big, reaching up to about 10 feet (3 meters) in length.
AP photo

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