Fossilized footprints and tracks dating back 50 million years ago discovered at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument could provide new insight into how prehistoric animals lived in Oregon.

The scientists, led by fossil track specialist Conner Bennett, used advanced 3D imaging techniques to identify and analyze four sets of vertebrate trace fossils, including impressions left behind ...

“Trace fossils definitely do tell stories,” said ... the park’s online catalog of finds and came across several animal track impressions that had been found decades ago but never studied.

Evidence of the earliest known reptile-like animal, an ancestor of many four ... That means the fossil tracks are likely to be the earliest known example of a reptile living on land, says Long.

The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length. Fossilized feliform tracks discovered at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon. This collection of trace fossils are ...

with three sets of tracks that appear to have been made by the same species of tetrapod – or four-legged animal. Two of the sets show signs of five digits, with curved claws. The fossil was ...