Researchers are taking a closer look at some fossilized bird-like footprints in Africa that date back some 210 million years.
These footprints are a kind of mystery. Even the fossils of the earliest bird ancestors do not appear for another 60 million years.
these footprints are known many yearsBut here, a team from the University of Cape Town in South Africa wanted to perform a more comprehensive analysis of fossils that were actually collected from four separate locations in the region.
In particular, by examining records found at the Mapuzeng site, which includes an 80-meter (262-foot) track, researchers were able to identify two different types (or morphotypes) of footprints: of Trisauropodiscus Category – That is the name previously given to these bird-like, three-toed footprints.
“Our findings suggest that Trisauropodiscus has two distinct morphotypes, one of which resembles footprints made by birds.” write As geologists Myenga Abrahams and Emese Bordi write in their paper:
The first morphotype had larger, longer legs and toes that were closer together, the researchers said. These footprints are not similar to other fossilized footprint types. AnomoepsResearchers believe they were left behind by a specific type of dinosaur.
For the second type, these footprints were about half the average size, wider than they were tall, and had narrower toes. This morphotype is rather mysterious, but it is the closest relative to modern birds.
Researchers believe that footprints that fall into the second morphotype category were left by the earliest ancestors of birds. In other words, dinosaurs may have started showing bird-like characteristics much earlier than the fossil record suggests.
“The close resemblance of these footprints in southern Africa, which date back to the Late Triassic, to Cenozoic and modern bird footprints suggests that the foot morphology of late Mesozoic archosaurs is converging. “Old,” demonstrating firmly that the origin of bird-like foot morphology is at least about 210 million years old. write researchers.
The mystery of which ancient beast actually left these footprints remains unsolved, but researchers suspect it may have been of some kind. three-fingered archdragon – branches of the evolutionary tree that left us with both the birds and crocodiles of today.
While the search continues for fossils that could tell us more about the animals responsible for these footprints, this research dates back hundreds of millions of years and provides interesting information about how birds have evolved since then. We provide
“Fossil footprints can be used to infer ancient diversity, behavior, and evolutionary trends.” write Abrahams and Boldy.
“This is especially useful at deep time intervals where the early history of an animal group relies on limited fossil skeletal material.”
This study Pro Swan.