The discovery, which has divided scientists over whether the prints belong to a bird-like creature, provides insights into the evolution of birds
The research examined footprints found in various parts of South Africa. The owner of the tracks is thought to be a bipedal reptile with three-toed feet.
“Given the age of the fossils, the tracks are most likely dinosaurs,” said Miengah Abrahams, Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, who led the research.
However, the newly analyzed dinosaur tracks are different from typical theropod tracks. Abrahams said in a statement that the creature that made the tracks had “significantly narrower toes” than a dinosaur and looked more like bird footprints.
Since the animals that made the tracks are unknown, their relationship to birds is also unclear. Researchers said the tracks could fill in a missing piece of information about the evolution of birds, or they could belong to reptiles with bird-like feet that are not close to the bird lineage but evolved independently, NTV reported.
SCIENTISTS DIVIDED INTO TWO
Scientists are divided on whether the tracks belong to a bird-like creature. Researchers said that the shape of the tracks may vary according to the structure of the ground the animal stepped on, emphasizing the difficulty of determining the physical characteristics of extinct animals based on the tracks.
‘OLDER THAN DINOSAURS…’
However, the researchers acknowledge that these findings provide important information about the evolution of birds. The tracks show that the evolution of birds can be traced back much further than dinosaurs. It also suggests that the development of three-toed feet in birds may have occurred independently of dinosaurs.
According to experts, these findings could reshape our current understanding of bird evolution.
