A fossilised footprint of an elephant calf Neto de Carvalho et al.
More than 100,000 years ago, elephants raised their newborns among the dunes of the ancient Spanish coast. Fossil footprints suggest at least 14 calves, belonging to the extinct straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus), were part of a prehistoric nursery – and that they were hunted by Neanderthals.
Carlos Neto de Carvalho at the Naturtejo UNESCO Global Geopark in Portugal and his colleagues identified the tracks on a broad fossil surface called the Matalascañas Trampled Surface (MTS) in Huelva, Spain, that contains the footsteps of antelope, birds, wolves…
