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Amateur paleontologists uncover earliest known ‘reptile’ footprints

Laura Baisas

created: May 14, 2025, 3 p.m. | updated: May 24, 2025, 3 p.m.

One of the most impactful stories in evolution is getting a rewrite, thanks to the exciting discovery of the earliest known set of reptile footprints. The well-preserved footprints of long-toed feet with distinct claw impressions at the tips dot the stone and are the earliest known clawed footprints. Footprints are important for paleontologists, as they can indicate the types of behaviors an extinct animal may have exhibited. A new set of fossil reptile footprints uncovered all the way across the globe in Poland are also detailed in the study and bolster the evidence. Tetrapods must be older than even the earliest amniotes, since it has a deeper branching point on the evolutionary tree.

2 months, 2 weeks ago: Popular Science