Bright Angel Trackway

Terrestrial Fossil
Scientific name: unknown

This track block is located on the Bright Angel Trail not far from Three Mile Resthouse. It was made by early reptiles walking across a sand dune.

3D Bright Angel Trackway
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

_{Trailside tracks on Bright Angel Trail by National Park Service Geologic Resources Division on Sketchfab}

Alternative Text for the 3D Model

A 3D model. This model shows a boulder with fossil tracks visable on the surface. The model can be rotated and tilted using a computer interface.

This block of rock on the Bright Angel Trail in Grand Canyon National Park is a boulder from the Manakacha Formation which is associtated with the Atokan/Moscovian Age of the Pennsylvanian Epoch. The side of the boulder shows basal reptiles or basal synapsids fossil tracks on the bedding surface of deposits from ancient dunes. Recent research on this this rockfall boulder, indicates that these are among the earliest known tracks of a early land-dwelling animal to inhabit desert like conditions. Two trackways can be seen on the suface, and may represent when different animals passed over the location at different times, possibly within days of each other.

Model is by NPS; photos taken 4/3/2019 Rowland SM, Caputo MV, Jensen ZA (2020) Early adaptation to eolian sand dunes by basal amniotes is documented in two Pennsylvanian Grand Canyon trackways. PLoS ONE 15(8): e0237636. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237636

Related Links

• NPS—Grand Canyon National Park Centennial
• NPS—Grand Canyon National Park Fossils
• NPS—National Fossil Day
• NPS—Photogrammetry
• NPS—Fossils and Paleontology