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Ancient footprints are more than just a scientific curiosity. The imprints provide a temporary window into the distant past, which can be used to learn about the distribution and size of long-lost species. Now, scientists believe that this information might help us bring some of those extinct animals back.
One of the largest collections of prehistoric footprints on Earth lies along a sandy stretch of coastline in north-west England: Formby beach. Researchers at the University of Manchester in the U.K. have been studying these footprints for more than six years.
"The muddy footprints were preserved immediately after they were formed by being baked hard in warm weather, filled with sand and then by being capped under further mud," Alison Burns, who led the study, told Newsweek.
"Eventually, they were buried under the sand and dunes as the coastline moved further to the west. They have not been washed away as they have been buried for millennia."
The oldest of the footprints date back nearly 9,000 years, when Britain was still connected to continental Europe by a landmass called Doggerland.
The footprints were exposed over time as waves hit the beach and cleared away the sand overlying the muddy beds. They tell the story of ancient humans who walked alongside deer, wild boars, wolves, lynxes and the now extinct auroch, the wild ancestor of the modern-day cow.
"What excited me most was the immediate connection the footprints offered to the past," Burns said. "Each recording episode enabled me to take a 'snapshot' of Mesolithic life unavailable by other methods, particularly in this location where there are no other archaeological artifacts."
The aurochs that caused the footprints found on Formby beach went extinct in the U.K. during the Bronze Age, around 3,000 years ago, although the species lived on in Europe until the 1600s.
"Their footprints have also been found at other British archaeological sites, [but] by far the most numerous auroch footprints have been recorded at Formby," Burns said.
As a keystone herbivore, aurochs played an important role in maintaining ancient landscapes and promoting biodiversity. The footprints at Formby provide an insight into their density and distribution during the Mesolithic period, approximately 8000-2700 BCE, when their populations thrived.
"During the Mesolithic period there appear to have been considerable numbers of aurochs," Burns said. "In total we have recorded 45 individual aurochs. Their presence in the marshes seems to have been consistent during this period. They may have found this saltmarsh environment a good place in which to cool off during the summer months when all the footprints were formed, or to graze on the sedges and grasses at the edge of the marshes."
The footprints also give us clues about their size.
"Their hoof prints show mature animals that would have been six feet high at the shoulder and approximately 11 feet long," Burns said.
While the ancient aurochs are long-gone, their legacy lives on in the modern-day cow, as does their DNA. In 2008, ecologist Ronald Goderie launched a program called Taurus to "re-introduce" the extinct super-cow. By identifying modern breeds with the most primitive features, the team are attempting to "back-breed" living cows to produce offspring with similar features to aurochs.
Over time, the team hopes that this back-breeding will produce an animal that is indistinguishable from its ancient ancestor.
About the writer
Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more