Geologist investigating
310 million-year-old fossil trackway from ancient reptilian creature
Date: November 8, 2018
Source: University of Nevada, Las Vegas
A geology
professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has discovered that a set of
28 footprints left behind by a reptile-like creature 310 million years ago, are
the oldest ever to be found in Grand Canyon National Park.
The fossil
trackway covers a fallen boulder that now rests along the Bright Angel Trail in
the national park. Rowland presented his findings at the recent annual meeting
of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
"It's
the oldest trackway ever discovered in the Grand Canyon in an interval of rocks
that nobody thought would have trackways in it, and they're among the earliest
reptile tracks on earth," said Rowland.
Rowland said
he's not prepared to say that they're the oldest tracks of their kind ever
discovered, but it's a possibility, as he's still researching the discovery.
"In
terms of reptile tracks, this is really old," he said, adding that the
tracks were created as the supercontinent Pangaea was beginning to form.
Rowland was
first alerted to the tracks in spring 2016 by a colleague who was hiking the
trail with a group of students. The boulder ended up along the trail after the
collapse of a cliff.
A year
later, Rowland studied the footprints up close.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!