Fossil Tracks Found in Australia Push Back Origin of Reptiles by 35 Million Years

Paleontologists have discovered fossilized tracks of a reptile-like animal — securely dated to the early Tournaisian age of the Carboniferous period, about 355 million years ago — in the Snowy Plains Formation of Victoria in Australia. This discovery indicates that such animals originated in the southern supercontinent Gondwana, of which Australia was a central part.

Paleontologists have discovered fossilized tracks of a reptile-like animal — securely dated to the early Tournaisian age of the Carboniferous period, about 355 million years ago — in the Snowy Plains Formation of Victoria in Australia. This discovery indicates that such animals originated in the southern supercontinent Gondwana, of which Australia was a central part.