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LAS VEGAS (AP) – A geology professor from the University of Nevada in Las Vegas recently announced the discovery of fossilized tracks from a reptile along a popular trail in Grand Canyon National Park, reported a newspaper.
Professor Steve Rowland hypothesized that the tracks would belong to a primitive reptile the size of a baby alligator and would go back to about 315 million years ago, reported on Thursday the Las Vegas Review-Journal .
The 28 footprints extend diagonally on a rock at the edge of the Bright Angel Trail of the Grand Canyon.
Rowland shared her findings at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's annual meeting last month in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He hopes to submit a scientific article in January.
He saw footprints for the first time last year while on family vacations and said that they "had turned out to be quite extraordinary". He said he heard about it from another geologist who spotted them on a hike in 2016.
Scientists will probably never know exactly what kind of animal left the tracks, said Rowland, adding that he was considering a lizard-like creature about 0.6 meters long, similar to an iguana of the Galapagos.
He said he had discussed with park officials the use of the block with the engravings and that he would like to see it moved from the canyon and added to a museum.
"It is more than likely that it will not happen," Park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said.
She added that removing the rock and showing it elsewhere was not in keeping with the National Park Service's mission of preserving natural resources.
"But we can display an interpretive sign telling people what they're watching," Cobb said.
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