Researchers spotted what may be the oldest-known bird tracks in the world.
The fossilized footprints were found at Dinosaur Cove in Victoria, Australia, and are believed to have been made during the Early Cretaceous an Emory Health Sciences news release reported.
"These tracks are evidence that we had sizeable, flying birds living alongside other kinds of dinosaurs on these polar, river floodplains, about 105 million years ago," Anthony Martin, a paleontologist at Emory University, said.
The tracks were believed to have been made by two birds; both were about the size of small herons. One of the prints had a drag mark on it that excited the researchers.
"I immediately knew what it was -- a flight landing track -- because I've seen many similar tracks made by egrets and herons on the sandy beaches of Georgia," Martin said.
"[The ancient print] has a beautiful skid mark from the back toe dragging in the sand, likely caused as the bird was flapping its wings and coming in for a soft landing," he said.
