Laetoli footprints
Huellas de Laetoli
- Date
- 1978 · confidence high
- Place
- Laetoli, Ngorongoro, Arusha, Tanzania
- Credited to
- Mary Leakey, Paul Abell and team
- People
- 👤 Mary Leakey1913–1996👤 Paul Abell
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
A trail of bipedal hominin footprints imprinted in volcanic ash 3.66 million years ago. Direct proof that upright walking existed long before the brain grew larger.
Andrew Hill found the first animal tracks in 1976; Abell found the human ones in 1978.
What it led to
- confirmation of bipedalism in Australopithecus afarensis
- studies of gait biomechanics
- the conservation of trace fossils