More fossil tracks of vertebrates have come to light on the South African coast, adding to the picture of an ancient plain full of wildlife.
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Dinosaur tracks from the Cretaceous period have been found in South Africa for only the second time.
These tracksites appear to contain the first recorded Pliocene vertebrate tracks described from southern Africa.
The first hyrax fossil tracks and traces ever to be discovered were identified on South Africa’s coast.
No fossilised pangolin tracks had been recorded anywhere in the world until a track was found in South Africa, dated to between 90,000 and 140,000 years ago.
Animal trackers using traditional skills helped to find and identify fossil tracks on the coast of South Africa.
Dinosaur tracks were found in a rugged, remote coastal South African setting.
Tracks and traces from long ago are preserved in cemented dune surfaces.
At a global level it is rare to find fossilised hominin tracks.
The trace was probably made between 93,000 and 83,000 years ago, almost certainly by a puff adder.
Trackway findings support the notion of southern Africa being one region where human cognitive and practical ability developed a very long time ago.
It hasn’t been clear how common the species was on the Cape south coast because its body fossils are predominantly from southern Africa’s west coast.
Track marks are a way to fill in the blanks that sometimes exist in the body fossil record.
The fossilised seal traces date back about 75,000 years.
Collectively, the evidence studied by ichnologists helps to paint a picture of long-gone landscapes and the creatures and plants that populated those spaces.
A trace fossil of an iguana burrow was discovered on San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. Estimated to be 115,000 years old, it is the first known fossil of its kind.
Top contributors
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Research Associate, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University
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Honorary researcher, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand
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Clive Thompson is a Friend of The Conversation.
Research Associate, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University
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Specialist Scientist, Council for Geoscience
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Researcher and curator, Jurassica Museum
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Professor Emeritus, Earth Sciences, Western University
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Senior Research Fellow, Nelson Mandela University
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Emeritus Chief Scientist, NRF-SAIAB, National Research Foundation
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Assistant Professor of Environmental Science, Emory University
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Professor of Practice, Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University
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Research Associate, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University