Fossil animal tracks

Museums don't know everything

A clear blue morning. A broad desert, blooming after a spring rain. Two creatures scamper across the sand. Are they hunting? Fleeing? Simply looking for shade? They meet briefly, shuffle their feet, and move on.

Years pass—260 million of them. The sand turns to stone. A scientist walking the south rim of the Grand Canyon finds the long-forgotten footprints. He identifies the large tracks on the left as belonging to a lizard-like animal called Laoporus (lay-OP-er-us). But he doesn’t recognize the prints on the right. He takes the rock back to The Science Museum, studies the tracks, and realizes they represent a new scorpion-like species, Permichnium coconinensis (per-MICK-nee-um co-co-nee-NEN-sis).

A bustling city. A cloudy November day. You stand in front of an exhibit case, staring at the fossil footprints, and imagining a chance meeting on a cool desert morning, so very long ago.

Fossil footprints tell stories of ancient life

Animals

Want to learn more about fossil track ways?

More