# @nationalparkservice on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CULoiparcL-
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/21026310-nationalparkservice-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/b1c9da1c34.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-09-23T22:59:15.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** National Park Service (@nationalparkservice) — https://gondola.cc/nationalparkservice

## Caption

Teenagers and their footprints!⁣👣⁣⁣
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Well, we always say, “Leave nothing but footprints!” New scientific research conducted at New Mexico’s White Sands National Park has uncovered the oldest known human footprints in North America. Based on stature and walking speed, it appears that most of the footprints in this study come from teenagers and children. The discovery reveals evidence of human occupation in the Tularosa Basin beginning at least 23,000 years ago, thousands of years earlier than previously thought.⁣⁣
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The fossilized human footprints were buried in multiple layers of gypsum soil on a large playa. Seeds embedded in the footprints were radiocarbon dated and analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey to establish age. The research dramatically extends the range for the coexistence of humans and Pleistocene (ice age) megafauna and confirms that humans were present in North America before the major glacial advances at the height of the last ice age closed migration routes from Asia. ⁣⁣
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White Sands contains the world’s largest-known collection of Pleistocene age (ice age) fossilized footprints in the world and has been recognized as a megatracksite since 2014. In addition to human footprints, tracks from the Columbian mammoth, saber-toothed cat, dire wolf, and other ice age animals have been discovered. More information about the park’s fossilized footprints can be found in the link in our bio.⁣⁣
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Image 1: Long before the sand dunes formed at White Sands National Park, ice age teenagers left their footprints in the mud, only to be discovered thousands of years later. Courtesy of Karen Carr⁣⁣
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Image 2: Closer view if fossilized footprints. NPS ⁣⁣@whitesandsnps
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#whitesandsnationalmonument #newmexico #fossils #footprints #science

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## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| National Park Service | @nationalparkservice | https://gondola.cc/nationalparkservice | Government Organization |

## Tags

fossils, whitesandsnationalmonument, science, newmexico, footprints

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