The oldest evidence of dinosaurs

Scientists have described the oldest fossilized tracks of an animal smaller than a house cat that was found in Poland. It places the very closest relatives of dinosaurs on Earth about 250 million years ago – 5 to 9 million years earlier than previously thought. The oldest dinosaurs were small, rare,and four- legged animals. The discovered prints of Prorotodactylus isp. show distinctive dinosaur-like manner of walking and orientation of the toes. Because footprints are only an imprint of a small of the skeleton, identification of track-makers is often tricky. However, dinosaurs have a distinctive gait when compered to their relatives, crocodiles and lizards, dinosaurs place their two feet closer together. The footprints found in Poland show this feature as well as others dinosaur-like features.

To see the footprints and read more click here