“Fossil Footprints in Italy's Dolomites Show How Dinosaur Ancestors Shifted to Upright Walk” — what this page in the network covers. A new study of fossil footprints from the GEOPARC Bletterbach in the Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Italy, sheds light on a key evolutionary transition. Lorenzo Marchetti of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, researchers described the earliest known archosauriform footprints, named Pachychirotherium gardenaensis. These tracks reveal how early relatives of dinosaurs and crocodiles gradually changed from a sprawling, lizard-like posture to a more upright, mammal-like stance.
The footprints, preserved in ancient rock, show a mix of features: the hind feet point more forward while the front feet still splay outward, indicating an intermediate stage in locomotion. This discovery is significant because it provides direct evidence of how these animals moved millions of years ago, filling a gap in our understanding of archosaur evolution. The full version stays on the original page, which this listing opens directly.