Tracking our ancestors
Authors: Bennett, M.R., Crompton, R.H. and Morse, S.A.
Journal: Planet Earth
Issue: AUTUMN
Pages: 24-25
ISSN: 1479-2605
Abstract:New techniques have allowed scientists examine ancient footprints to understand how their forebears' physiques and lifestyles changed over time. Ancestors' ability to walk efficiently influenced how they foraged and hunted for food, how they gathered raw materials for tools and how they migrated across the globe. Fossil foot bones are rarely found with skeletons of known species, and the fossil record is fragmentary. When we do find part of one of our ancient ancestors' feet, it has usually been badly chewed by scavengers. Until relatively recently, human and animal footprints were thought to be rare in the geological record - freak occurrences of sedimentary preservation, with each one holding a rare glimpse of locomotive behavior. Capturing the information held in a footprint has long involved casting it in a medium like latex or plaster, a destructive process that does not readily provide quantitative data that can be examined objectively.
Source: Scopus
Preferred by: Matthew Bennett