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355-Million-Year-Old Fossil Tracks Push Back Reptile Origins

Scientists discovered fossil footprints with hooked claws in a sandstone slab near Mansfield, Victoria, dated about 356 million years ago.
The tracks likely belong to early amniotes, reptiles whose eggs develop inside amniotic fluid, allowing reproduction away from water sources.
The slab shows clear claw indentations and raindrop impressions, suggesting the animals walked on land soon after the surface was exposed to air.
John Long said the footprints are a "dead giveaway" of an amniote, pushing back the origin of land-living animals with claws by over 35 million years.
This find implies amniotes and modern tetrapods evolved sooner than thought, significantly revising the timeline of terrestrial animal evolution.

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Smithsonian Mag

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Fossil Hunters Discover Earliest Known Footprints of a Reptile-Like Creature, Pushing Back the Timeline of Their Evolution

A new study suggests two fossil trackways found in Australia were made by an early amniote, a group that today includes reptiles, birds and mammals

5 days ago·United States

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Popular Mechanics

Center

Scientists Found Footprints That Push Humanity’s Timeline Back By 40 Million Years

We all came from... something like a lizard.

5 days ago

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Tagesschau

Center

Fossil Finds: Hobby Researchers Discover the Oldest Reptile Footprints

This finding questions the time frame of evolution: Two Australian hobby paleontologists found petrified footprints of reptiles. The special thing: they are much older than they thought reptiles were at all. By D. Beck.

6 days ago·Hamburg, Germany

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Haaretz

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Claw-marks on Primordial Soil: Reptiles Arose Much Earlier Than Thought - Archaeology

Trackway Discovered in Australia From 360 Million Years Ago Blows Up Theory of Life on Land, Which Developed a Lot Faster Than Had Been Assumed

9 days ago·Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

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CBC News

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Oldest fossil footprints from reptile found in Australia (Sorry, Canada)

Scientists in Australia have identified the oldest known fossil footprints of a reptile-like animal, dated to around 350 million years ago. Previously the earliest known reptile footprints, found in Canada, were dated to 318 million years ago.

9 days ago·Canada

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