May 9, 2014 6:30 AM

Gallery: Tracking Dinosaurs, Bear Dogs, and Scorpions With Fossil Footprints

Photos by Andy Farke/Alf Museum/U.S. Bureau of Land Management
01
Cat Footprint
The preserved pawprint of a prehistoric feline, made roughly 10 million years ago.
Photos by Andy Farke/Alf Museum/U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
02
Bear Dog Footprint
Bear dog track from the Barstow formation in California's Mojave Desert, left 15 million years ago.

Photos by Andy Farke/Alf Museum/U.S. Bureau of Land Management
03
elephant3
"The elephant print is pretty unmistakable. It's about two feet across," says Alf Museum curator Andrew Farke. The elephant that made this print lived 15 million years ago in Southern California. \[View in full screen for more info\]
Photos by Andy Farke/Alf Museum/U.S. Bureau of Land Management
04
Scorpion
These are believed to be scorpion tracks, recovered from the same location in Arizona as [the spider tracks](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/03/prehistoric-spider-footprints/) we showed you in March.

Photos by Andy Farke/Alf Museum
05
Dino Burrows
This amazing snapshot of life in the early Jurassic includes the three-pronged imprint (pointing up) of a dinosaur, pressed into a rippled substrate punctuated by numerous invertebrate burrows.
Photos by Andy Farke/Alf Museum/U.S. Bureau of Land Management
06
Camel Footprints
Two 15-million-year-old camel tracks. Are they the traces of two camels walking side by side? The same individual walking a well-worn path?

Photos by Andy Farke/Alf Museum/U.S. Bureau of Land Management
07
Sliding Camel Footprints
This is what it might look like if your attempt to preserve your footprints for posterity were foiled by a slippery surface.
Photos by Andy Farke/Alf Museum/U.S. Bureau of Land Management
08
Shorebird Footprints
These are the tiny, preserved 10-million-year-old footprints of prehistoric shorebirds belonging to an ancient group called the Charadriiformes.

Photos by Andy Farke/Alf Museum
09
coconino big
This trackway is about 20 feet long, and is crisscrossed by the 260-million-year-old footprints of both vertebrates and invertebrates.
Photos by Andy Farke/Alf Museum
10
Coconino Trackway
Segment of a 260-million-year-old trackway crisscrossed by the prints of ancient lizard-type animals and invertebrates, such as scorpions.

Photos by Andy Farke/Alf Museum/U.S. Bureau of Land Management
11
Creodonts
These are the tracks of early dog-like carnivores that lived 55 million years ago in Wyoming.
Photos by Andy Farke/Alf Museum
12
dinosaur-brownstone
This classic New York brownstone has many dinosaur tracks pressed into it.

I Trained a Fly’s Brain to Generate WIRED Story Ideas

I used an open-source map of a fruit fly’s brain to vibe code a website called PitchFly. Its headline suggestions were delightfully bananas.

Will Knight

The 8 Best Movies to Stream This Month

The Mandalorian and Grogu, The Wild Robot, and Obsession are among the must-watch films arriving this month.

Matt Kamen

Chipotle Is Working With Palantir to Track Food Safety Risks

The burrito chain has enlisted Palantir for a platform that monitors pest incidents, employee illnesses, and other factors. The partnership comes after a nightmare summer for food safety across the US.

Kate Taylor

The iPhone 18 Pro Is for the Shutterbugs

Fun camera features help make these candy bar iPhones stand out from the dazzle of the folding iPhone Duo.

Julian Chokkattu

Don’t Buy an Android Phone Until You Read Our Guide

Shopping for a phone can be an ordeal. That’s why we’ve tested almost every Android phone, from the smartest to the cheapest—even phones that fold—to find the ones worth your money.

Julian Chokkattu

Introducing the WIRED App

The app is the best way to read, watch, and listen to WIRED’s journalism.

WIRED Staff

Hackers Got Inside a Flock Camera. Its Data Shows How the System Really Works

A hacker collective pulled down a Flock camera and dumped its data. The files included thousands of videos and logs showing that the device captured 1.6 million images of 50,000 vehicles in 21 days.

Dhruv Mehrotra

The EU Plans to Ban Social Media For Under-13s

The bloc wants to curb Big Tech’s grip on children with its new EU Kids Act, but age checks, parental oversight, and privacy concerns could make its plan difficult to implement.

Isabella Ward

I Made Robot Vacuums Clean Up Cherry Juice and Cheerios. These Won

My hands-on tests reveal which models can scrub stains, reach difficult corners, and navigate a chaotic home.

Nena Farrell

Self-Driving Cars Might Change Crash Testing Forever

Lie down in a car, and you’re more likely to get seriously hurt in a crash. But a driverless future is forcing governments to revisit long-standing safety issues.

Aarian Marshall