"The fossil trackway covers a boulder that rests along the BrightAngel Trail in Grand Canyon National Park.
The two blocks display part and counterpart surfaces containing a conspicuous vertebrate trackway consisting of 28 tracks, preserved as impressions on one block and natural casts on the opposing block. The trackway extends about 3.3 feet (1 m) across the width of the fallen blocks.
The Bright Angel Trail trackway dates to the Carboniferous period when one massive supercontinent called Pangaea dominated the world and is unusual for several reasons.
“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,” Professor Rowland said.
“My first impression was that it looked very bizarre because of the sideways motion,” he added.
“It appeared that two animals were walking side-by-side. But you wouldn’t expect two lizard-like animals to be walking side-by-side. It didn’t make any sense.”
“One reason I’ve proposed is that the animal was walking in a very strong wind, and the wind was blowing it sideways.”
SciNews
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