Researchers from the Greek island of Crete have identified footprints left by prehistoric humans that are at least six million years old.
An international team of scientists led by the University of Tübingen (Germany) found footprints in fossilized beach sediments near the town of Trachilos on the island of Crete in 2017, but their date has now been released.
in a study published In Scientific Reports, scientists have indicated that they have used geophysical and micropaleontological techniques to reveal that the footprints are about 6.05 million years old, making them the earliest direct evidence of a human-like foot with locomotor function. went.
It is estimated that the footprints discovered at Trachilos on the Greek island of Crete are more than six million years old.
Uwe Kirscher of the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment at the University of Tübingen said, “The footprints are about 2.5 million years older than those attributed to Australopithecus afarensis. [Lucy] Lai-Toli, Tanzania”.
Such discovery puts Trakilos’ footprints at roughly the same age. fossil Found in the right leg of Aurorin tugeneensis in kenya.
Footprints found in Crete may thus provide new insights into the early evolution of human motion.
