Mammal footprints in Brazil reveal unexpected size in Early Cretaceous

Fossilized footprints discovered in the Botucatu Formation of Brazil indicate that some mammals reached significant sizes during the Early Cretaceous period, challenging the long-held view that Mesozoic mammals remained small to avoid competition with dinosaurs. Researchers identified tracks left by a mammal roughly 1.5 meters in length-comparable in size to a large dog or a puma-approximately 130 million years ago. The findings, published in the Journal of South American Earth Sciences, are based on the analysis of two trackways preserved in sandstone. At the time of deposition, the region in southern Brazil was part of the supercontinent Gondwana and consisted of a harsh desert environment. The evidence shows the animal was a quadruped with four short, rounded toes on each paw. Track widthApproximately 13 centimeters Parameter Finding Characteristic Estimated body length Up to 1.55 meters Era Early Cretaceous (130 million years ago) Limb type Four-toed, rounded Analysis of Footprint Morphology The tracks measure 10 centimeters in length and 13 centimeters in width, which is twice the size of any other mammal prints found in the same location. To estimate the creature's dimensions, paleontologists used extrapolation by comparing the tracks to the known species Adalatherium hui.