Ancient Crocodile-Like Reptile Left Giant Tracks on Scotland’s Arran

An ancient reptile left a series of unusually large footprints across what is now Scotland’s Isle of Arran, according to Atlas Obscura. The tracks are attributed to Chirotherium, a crocodile-like reptile that lived approximately 270 million years ago. Trails have been identified in four locations on Arran, with some individual prints measuring as much as 40 centimeters long. The footprints also show large talons. Atlas Obscura reports that these are the largest Chirotherium prints discovered anywhere on Earth. Although Chirotherium resembled a crocodile, it lived long before modern crocodiles. During that period, Arran formed part of the supercontinent Pangaea. The reptile inhabited a hot, arid environment near the sea. The preserved tracks provide evidence of the animal’s movement across the ancient landscape, while their size offers a striking record of a large reptile that lived hundreds of millions of years before the present day.