Fossil finds: footprints on South Africa’s coast offer a glimpse into our ancestors’ lives

By Charles Helm, Research Associate, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University

Mention the word “fossils” to people and most will probably think of bones. Of course, body fossils make up a large part of the global fossil record. But humans and other species leave their mark in other ways too – for instance, their tracks. The study of these fossil tracks and traces is called ichnology.

I am an ichnologist. In 2008 my colleagues and I launched the Cape South Coast Ichnology Project to study a 350km stretch of South Africa’s coastline. We’ve since identified more…

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