In The News: Department of Geoscience
Geologist Allan Krill was hiking along the Grand Canyon National Park’s Bright Angel Trail with a group of students in 2016 when he spotted it: a fallen boulder lying just off the side of the trail, with curious markings that resembled footprints. Krill, who was visiting the ÐÔÊӽ紫ý (ÐÔÊӽ紫ý) from Norway, sent photos of his find to an old friend and colleague, Stephen Rowland, a ÐÔÊӽ紫ý paleontologist.
A new research paper led by paleontologist Steve Rowland at the ÐÔÊӽ紫ý analyzes this chance find of two sets of footprints (also called trackways) on the same rock that are potentially both from the same unknown species.
It's something like a modern-day chuckwalla, side-stepping sand dunes on an island in what now is Grand Canyon National Park.
A rock tumble at the Grand Canyon revealed fossil footprints that researchers say are among the oldest in the park.
It’s something like a modern-day chuckwalla, side-stepping sand dunes on an island in what now is Grand Canyon National Park.
It’s something like a modern-day chuckwalla, side-stepping sand dunes on an island in what now is Grand Canyon National Park.
Footprints found in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, reveal the journey that two creatures took when they walked up the sand dunes approximately 313 million years ago. The footprints were discovered when a huge boulder fell down in the Pennsylvanian Manakacha Formation, revealing the imprinted tracks.
On a day about 313 million years ago, a four-legged animal took a stroll up the slope of a sand dune, leaving only footprints behind.
Paleontological research has confirmed a series of recently discovered fossils tracks are the oldest recorded tracks of their kind to date within Grand Canyon National Park. In 2016, Norwegian geology professor, Allan Krill, was hiking with his students when he made a surprising discovery. Lying next to the trail, in plain view of the many hikers, was a boulder containing conspicuous fossil footprints. Krill was intrigued, and he sent a photo to his colleague, Stephen Rowland, a paleontologist at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
Fossilized footprints discovered in Grand Canyon National Park were confirmed by paleontologists on Friday to be the oldest recorded tracks of their kind.
Some 313 million years ago, two creatures trekked across sand dunes in what is now the Grand Canyon and now paleontologist have uncovered evidence of their journey.
Finding fossil footprints at the Grand Canyon isn't particularly unusual. The expansive stretch of red rock is home to an array of formations containing preserved remains of the past.