[Taxacom] oldest New World human foot print

[John Grehan]

Sort of taxonomy since it involves identification, but pretty neat
regardless. Text below extracted from the web.

SANTIAGO, April 26 (Reuters) - A 15,600-year old footprint discovered in
southern Chile is believed to be the oldest ever found in the Americas,
according to researchers.

The footprint was first discovered in 2010 by a student at the Universidad
Austral of Chile. Scientists then worked for years to rule out the
possibility that the print may have belonged to some other species of
animal, and to determine the fossil's estimated age.

Karen Moreno, a paleontologist with the Universidad Austral who has
overseen the studies, said researchers had also found bones of animals near
the site, including those of primitive elephants, but determined that the
footprint was evidence of human presence.

Moreno said this was the first evidence of humans in the Americas older
than 12,000 years.

"Little by little in South America we're starting to find sites with
evidence of human presence, but this is this oldest in the Americas," she
said.