Tertrapod Footprints - Valentia Island

reland is littered with wonderful archaeological sites, but not many people are aware that off the south costs on the Island of Valenta lies a set of animal footprints which were made somewhere between 350 and 370 million years ago. The Tetrapod (four limbed[foot]) footprints were made by one of the first amphibians and represents the transition of life from water to land – a momentous turning point in evolution and provides the oldest reliably dated evidence of four legged vertebrates (amphibians) moving over land. The Valentia Island Tetrapod footprints are the most extensive of the four Devonian trackways in the world. (The others are in Tarbet Ness, Scotland; Genoa River, NSW Australia; Glen Isla, Victoria Australia). Access to the track way is by a pathway down to the rocks. Source: Objaverse 1.0 / Sketchfab

爱尔兰遍布着诸多极具价值的考古遗址，但鲜少有人留意到，在瓦伦蒂亚岛（Valenta Island）南岸近海区域，埋藏着一批形成于3.5亿至3.7亿年前的动物足迹化石。这批四足类（Tetrapod，四肢动物）足迹由首批两栖动物之一所遗留，见证了生命从水生到陆生的演化过渡——这是演化历程中极具里程碑意义的转折点，同时也是目前已知最古老、经可靠定年的四足脊椎动物（两栖类）登陆活动的实证。瓦伦蒂亚岛四足类足迹化石群是全球四处泥盆纪足迹遗迹中规模最宏大的一处（其余三处分别位于苏格兰塔贝特内斯、澳大利亚新南威尔士州杰诺阿河，以及澳大利亚维多利亚州格伦艾拉）。前往该足迹遗迹需沿步道下行至岩滩区域。资料来源：Objaverse 1.0 / Sketchfab