Footprints of Mass Extinction Survivor

A correspondent has brought THIS ARTICLE to my attention. It is based on THIS PAPER which records the subject in great detail.

Tracks of the a creature were discovered in the Italian Alps, not far from the French border. And they were in rocks which have been assigned to the late Early Triassic. This is just after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. At the time it was not far from the equator. And the temperature was rather hot.

They use photogrammetry to measure the tracks in exquisite detail.

The creature has been identified as being an archosaur - a terrestrial tetrapod but assigning a species to the trackmaker is rather difficult! But does not stop our authors! The give the tracks a name - Isochirotherium gardettensis - and then speculate that the track maker was a "a non-archosaurian archosauriform (Erythrosuchidae?)".

The main thing is that such a beast was there, so soon after the extinction event.

 

This is best seen as full screen - symbol at bottom right.