Ancient Claw Tracks in Australia Rewrite Evolutionary Timeline

Melbourne, Australia: A team of paleontologists uncovered 354- to 358-million-year-old footprints near Melbourne that predate all previously known reptile-like tracks by several dozen million years. The distinctive claw marks suggest that creatures with fully formed digits roamed the earth far earlier than once believed, challenging established theories on when amniotes—ancestors of reptiles, birds, and mammals—evolved to navigate hard, rocky terrain. Previously, the earliest claw-bearing footprints were found in Canada, dating to around 318 million years ago. The discovery of these older Australian tracks could mean that crucial transitions from aquatic to terrestrial life occurred in the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana.