![]() Human footprint inside giant sloth track at White Sands National Monument. “We see interesting circles of sloth tracks in these stalked trackways which we call ‘flailing circles.’ These record the rise of the sloth on its hind legs and the swing of its fore legs presumably in a defensive motion.” “The ancient humans stalked the sloth,” added team leader Professor Matthew Bennett, of Bournemouth University, UK. “The White Sands trackway shows that someone followed a sloth, purposely stepping in their tracks as they did so,” said team member David Bustos, naturalist with the National Park Service. “The sloth tracks - 1.2 to 2 inches (3-5 cm) deep, 12 to 22 inches (30-56 cm) long, and 4 to 14 inches (10-35 cm) wide - are readily distinguished from human tracks based on their elongated kidney-shaped tracks and claw marks.” “The site consists of more than a hundred sloth and human tracks,” the researchers said. The team found and analyzed fossilized footprints of ancient humans - adults and children - at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico and those human footprints were actually inside footprints of a giant, razor-clawed ground sloth ( Nothrotheriops or Paramylodon sp.). Image credit: Alex McClelland, Bournemouth University. You can read more about the footprint finding on New Scientist (opens in new tab).White Sands footprints tell the story of a group of humans tracking and hunting a giant ground sloth. But based on the discovery of the 23,000-year-old prints and the fact that ground sloths went extinct around 11,000 years ago, these once-splashy children’s prints were likely made between 23,000 and 11,000 years ago, Bennet said. It's challenging to date footprints without a detailed stratigraphy - or studying the rock layers - of the site and without finding any organic matter, which can be radiocarbon dated. And if work was walking across the former lake bed in order to track an animal, you would have taken your child with you." "In the past, you would have just taken your kid to work. The children and adults in the group were "almost certainly" foragers who stuck together while searching for food, he added. 100,000-year-old Neanderthal footprints show children playing in the sand Ice Age giant sloths died in a pit of their own poop 10,000-year-old footprints show journey of squirmy toddler and caregiver ![]() "We see children's tracks very frequently at White Sands," most likely because, just like today's children, these youngsters raced around, leaving hundreds of footprints a day, Bennett said. The footprints are shallow, about 1.2 inches (3 cm) deep, but it seems that was deep enough for them to fill with water and intrigue the children. This combination of front and back paw gives the prints a kidney shape.Įach of the giant ground sloth footprints measures nearly 16 inches (40 centimeters) long, and the beast would have been anywhere from the size of a cow to as big as a bear, Bennet said. "As it puts its forepaws down, the rear paw comes and steps on it," he explained. Each sloth print is actually a double print, Bennet said. The now-extinct giant ground sloth, possibly Nothrotheriops, left its trackway after walking through the area on all fours. (Image credit: David Bustos Matthew Bennett) The ground sloth's print likely filled with water and soon became trampled by ice age children, who left their own footprints at the site. A digitally created image showing a section of the trackway left by the ground sloth. ![]()
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