Mammoth tracks give an insight into lives

During a 2014 field trip to Oregon’s Lake County, palaeontologist Gregory Retallack discovered fossilised animal tracks, writes Richard Collins

There were 117 foot impressions along what appeared to be an ancient pathway. Retallack returned last year, with other experts, to excavate the site. Some of their results have just appeared.

The prints, they found, were made by mammoths trekking across an expanse of volcanic soil about 43,000 years ago. A twenty-footprint section of the track is particularly interesting; it gives a rare insight into the lives of these long-extinct creatures.