Fossil Vertebrate Trackways

Terrestrial Fossil

Scientific Name: Ichniotherium

These fossil tracks were a recent and exciting find for Grand Canyon National Park. These early Permian tracks are 280 million years old and were made when the Grand Canyon area was covered by a sandy desert. These tracks were most likely made by diadectomorphs, a group of advanced amphibians that are thought to be closely related to the first reptiles. The absence of claw marks on these tracks is one of the main features that suggest they were made by an amphibian and not a reptile. It is surprising to find an amphibian living in such an arid environment, since they need to lay their eggs in water. This suggests that diadectomorphs were well adapted to living in deserts and perhaps had more reptilian characteristics than previously thought.

3D Ichniotherium tracks

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Alternative Text for the 3D Model

A 3D model. This model shows a large slab of rock with fossils tracks on the surface. The model can be rotated and tilted using a computer interface.

These tracks, located in a large fallen block of the Coconino Sandstone within Grand Canyon National Park are evidence of early tetrapods inhabiting deserts during the late Paleozoic (early Permian).

Read more about the track block here: https://www.nps.gov/articles/grca-fossil-footprints.htm A copy of the publication is available here.

This fossil is managed in situ (in place) at Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Learn about paleontology in the National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossils/index.htm

Learn more about Grand Canyon National Park’s Centennial: https://www.nps.gov/grca/getinvolved/centennial.htm

Grand Canyon—Ichniotherium trackway

Left image

Fossil trackway model with true color overlay.

Credit: NPS image by Jack Wood.

Right image

Fossil trackway model with color ramp overlay.

Credit: NPS image by Jack Wood.

Ichniotherium tracks found within the Grand Canyon are important clues to how early tetrapods colonized land. These tracks are especially important because the Coconino Sandstone was deposited as an erg and characteristic of a desert environment during the Permian (~280 million years ago). To help scientists, photogrammetry data can be used to create a map of the tracks, also known as a "heat map", which uses color to represent the changing  height of the surface features. Here, lowest areas are in blue and the highest are in red. Using the true color and the heat map together, the walking behavior of the animal can be better understood.

Related Links

• NPS—Grand Canyon National Park Centennial
• NPS—Grand Canyon National Park Fossils
• NPS—National Fossil Day
• NPS—Photogrammetry
• NPS—Fossils and Paleontology
• NPS—Geology

Part of a series of articles titled
Grand Canyon Collections—Paleontology.

Previous:
California Condor Fossil

Next:
Harrington’s Mountain Goat

Where this belongs

• Grand Canyon National Park

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