Oldest footprints in Catalonia
Thursday, February 11, 2016 - 12:20
in Paleontology & Archaeology
The ichnites or fossilised footprints of the Manyanet Valley (within the municipality of Sarroca de Bellera) are in two areas that differ in their environments: meandering fluvial systems in one and unconfined waters in the other. These two palaeoenvironments would have been inhabited by groups of different tetrapods during the Permian Period. The early tetrapods (from the Ancient Greek word meaning "four-footed") were the first vertebrates to tread terra firma, developing lungs to capture atmospheric oxygen and turning fins into legs, but with a life cycle that was still closely tied to aquatic environments.