Oldest human-like footprints are 2.5 million years older than the ones attributed to “Lucy”

The famous fossil. We are told that the paper on this new set of footprints, found in Crete, is “controversial”:

Believed to be left by hominins, the footprints could upend scientists’ understanding of how early humans evolved, moving the group’s starting point from Africa to the Mediterranean Sea, reports Ruth Schuster for Haaretz. Researchers say it’s possible the bipedal creature who made the marks was a member of Graecopithecus freyberg, an early human ancestor discovered in 1944 and nicknamed “El Graeco.”

“The tracks are almost 2.5 million years older than the tracks attributed to Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy) from Laetoli in Tanzania,” says study co-author Uwe Kirscher, an expert on paleogeography at the University of Tübingen, in a statement.

David Kindy, “New Research Suggests Human-Like Footprints in Crete Date to 6.05 Million Years Ago” at Smithsonian Magazine (October 18, 2021)

Good pix here:

Crete? The Mediterranean? Hmm? Let’s see how this plays out.

The paper is open access.

You may also wish to read: Oldest Footprints In North America —Children’s — Made At 22,500 Years Ago

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