This footprint find may change everything we thought we knew about humans.
Back in 2021, a pair of amateur fossil hunters were scouring the banks of Broken River in Australia’s Victoria state when they stumbled upon something extraordinary—a set of clawed footprints fossilized in ancient rock. What they found would later send shockwaves through the scientific community. Analysis revealed the tracks dated back to the Carboniferous period—over 350 million years ago—suggesting land-walking creatures emerged 40 million years earlier than previously believed.
Though not left by humans, these prints challenge long-held assumptions about when upright locomotion began. The find forces scientists to rethink evolutionary timelines and opens the door to forgotten chapters in Earth’s deep past.
1. The human timeline may be off by tens of millions of years.
For more than a century, scientists placed the rise of bipedalism at around 6 to 7 million years ago, with Australopithecus and other early hominins leading the march. But these 40-million-year-old footprints radically disrupt that timeline. If authentic, they imply that upright walking existed 33 million years earlier than believed—during a time when humans weren’t even thought to exist in any form. That means either the origins of hominins stretch back far deeper in time or an entirely separate lineage developed bipedal traits independently.
Either scenario dismantles long-held evolutionary frameworks. Experts are now reevaluating fossil records, reanalyzing sediment layers, and confronting the very real possibility that humanity’s roots lie buried far deeper—and stranger—than we ever imagined.
2. A previously unknown species may have walked upright.
The footprints don’t match any known primate from that time period. Their structure—arched insteps, forward-pointing toes, and consistent stride—suggests a creature capable of efficient upright walking. But in the Eocene epoch, when mammals were small and tree-dwelling, nothing in the fossil record supports such an anatomy. That’s leading scientists to consider the shocking alternative: an unknown species with advanced locomotion that’s never been identified before. This hypothetical species may not be a human ancestor but rather a side branch of evolution with uncanny similarities.
If true, it would mark a rare example of convergent evolution, where traits evolve separately in unrelated species. This discovery could force a massive revision of what we thought we knew about evolutionary pathways.
3. Our understanding of bipedalism’s origins is collapsing.
Bipedalism has long been considered one of the key adaptations distinguishing humans from other animals. But this find suggests walking on two feet may not have been such a unique, late-breaking development after all. If a creature was striding around 40 million years ago, the assumption that bipedalism evolved solely as a response to environmental changes—like shifting from forests to open savannas—falls apart. It may have developed for completely different reasons in an entirely different context.
Researchers are now scrambling to reconsider the physical and environmental factors that might have promoted upright walking in a world that looked nothing like early human habitats. This means that walking on two legs could be less about being human—and more about broader survival adaptations.
4. Evolution may not be as linear as we thought.
We often picture evolution as a straight climb from primitive to advanced species, with humans at the pinnacle. But these fossil footprints suggest something much more tangled. If bipedalism existed 40 million years ago in a species unrelated to modern humans, then the human-like trait emerged in a completely different context—and potentially died out with that lineage.
That reveals evolution as a branching, experimental process where traits appear, disappear, and reappear across different groups over time. It’s not a clear line but a chaotic web. This footprint discovery might be one of many pieces showing that nature has tried the “walk like a human” blueprint more than once.
5. Fossil records may be hiding more than we imagined.
This find is a wake-up call for paleontology. It suggests there could be entire species—and significant evolutionary steps—missing from the fossil record. The right conditions for fossilization are rare, meaning many creatures may have come and gone without leaving a trace. But fossilized footprints?
They’re rare and fragile, but when preserved, they’re often overlooked. This case underscores the importance of trace fossils and encourages scientists to revisit previously dismissed or misunderstood findings. If bipedal prints this ancient went unnoticed until now, what else has been miscategorized, misinterpreted, or missed altogether? The ground beneath us might be telling stories that bones never could.
6. Scientific consensus may be more fragile than we think.
The discovery of these footprints has ignited fierce debate in the scientific community. Many researchers are skeptical, while others are open to the possibility that the find is authentic. Regardless of the final verdict, one thing is clear: scientific consensus can be upended by a single discovery. This isn’t a weakness—it’s how science works. But it also reminds us that what we “know” is often provisional, built on the best available evidence until something better comes along.
These footprints might end up being disproven, but their impact on scientific humility and curiosity will linger. They’ve already shaken the certainty that surrounded our story of human origins.
7. Ancient myths about early beings may have some unexpected roots.
While it’s a stretch to suggest ancient footprints confirm any myth, the idea that there were once human-like beings walking the Earth far earlier than our timeline suggests is echoed in many indigenous and spiritual traditions. Some ancient cultures speak of earlier “people” or beings that predated modern humans, often lost to catastrophe or time.
These fossil prints won’t prove such stories, but they may renew interest in how ancient knowledge, oral traditions, or cultural memory sometimes align with scientific mystery. In that way, science and myth may not always be at odds—but part of the same quest to understand the unknown past.
8. This could change how we search for human ancestors.
This discovery forces scientists to broaden their scope—both geographically and temporally. If bipedal creatures existed tens of millions of years earlier than expected, then the hunt for human ancestors must expand. Paleontologists may need to investigate older rock layers and revisit regions not traditionally seen as hominin hotspots. Sites previously written off as “too ancient” could now be considered prime territory for new revelations.
This could also inspire new methods of analysis, including AI tools for scanning trace fossils and sediment dating. In the end, the 40-million-year-old footprints may be more than a historic anomaly—they could be the key to finding entire chapters of our evolutionary story we didn’t even know were missing.