Oh, did I get to geek out today! In a pilgrimage which includes tracing one’s ancestors, I am not sure I could go back any further than this.
These are tracks made 385 million years ago on the southernmost tip of Valentia Island by the first known vertebrate to crawl out of the water onto land, the Tetrapod.
Artist’s rendering.
From archaeological evidence we know that they were slightly longer than nine feet, tail included. The tracks left behind show four legs and the drag marks of their tail. They were heavy, which accounts for the well preserved footprints and skid marks in the mud.
Down below there to the right you can make out a zig zag trail, almost as if one was sunning the way sea lions do.
These tracks, discovered and authenticated in 1992, are the oldest known in the world.
Tetrapods had gills, making them the first vertebrates to be able to breathe in and out of water. Before their evolution, fish were the only vertebrates on the planet.
The Tetrapods evolved again, their fins becoming legs, creating the first mammals to walk on land.
And eventually, following further evolution, they became even more complex, losing the tail and giving birth to generations of prehistoric mammamalia making the journey toward walking upright.
Tetrapods are truly our oldest mammal ancestors.
And these were right here in Ireland.
This is the field you pass on your way down to the Tetrapod landing. Skellig Michael is 14 miles out to sea to the left of the frame.
The force is with us all.