Seals' absence from the global ichnology record can probably be explained by these mammals spending much of their time in the ocean, and to a preference for rocky islands, cliff-side ledges, and pebble beaches when they do come ashore. None of these environments would preserve fossil traces of seals.
However, large colonies can be found on remote sandy beaches, and individual seals often haul up on beaches, both of which might leave a trace fossil record.One of the sites we studied was situated on a north-facing slope of a sand-bar and shows a furrow created by sliding down the slope, complete with hind-flipper drag marks. There are parallel grooves and nested grooves adjacent to it, consistent with front-flipper traces.
Microscopy of thin sections sampled from the rock surfaces enabled us to ascertain that both sites are from beach rather than dune environments. This helped to corroborate our interpretation of the tracks as seal traces. Meanwhile, performed at the University of Leicester indicated that the seals inhabited these beaches about 75,000 years ago.Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
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