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16TuesdayOctober82013FossilscouldtracemissinglinktoHayRiverareaScienceTechnologyPaleontologyBySCOTTCLOUTHIERHaveyouseenany3-me-tre-longfour-leggedshwalkingaroundlatelyChancesareyouhaventbutanAlbertascientistbe-lievessuchcreaturesmayhaveroamedthebanksoftheHayRiverabout370millionyearsago.DonHendersonapale-ontologistwiththeRoyalTyrrellMuseuminDrum-hellerAlta.iscurrentlyinHayRiverstudyingasetoffossilizedimpressionswhichcouldprovethatthemissinglinkbetweenaquaticandlandanimalsexistedhereduringthelateDevonianperiodwhichoccurredbe-tween420and360millionyearsago.AccordingtoHendersonthesuspectedtrackscouldbeamongsttheoldesteverdis-coveredintheworld.Hendersongaveapresen-tationattheHayRiverCen-tennialLibraryonThursdayeveningwherehediscussedhisndingssofar.HeandassistantChrisCapobiancohavebeenwork-ingatthesiteabout100metresupstreamfromAl-exandraFallstogathermouldsandsampleswhichwillbetakenbacktotheRoyalTyrrellMuseumforfurtherstudy.Thetracksaseriesofde-pressionsinthelimestonealongtheriverbankwereoriginallydiscoveredbyHayRiveriteBruceGreenwhocontactedHendersoninDrumheller.Thedepressionsappeartobehalfofasetoftracksmadebyafour-leggedani-mal.Theotherhalfseemstohaveerodedawaywiththewideningoftheriveroverthepast300millionyears.Hendersonsaidthatmakestheprocessofstudyingthemmoredifcultasonlyhalftheinformationispresent.Itslikelisteningtoonehandclappinghesaid.ThoughthereisnotyetenoughconcreteevidencetoasserttheyweremadebyalongextinctanimalHendersonsaidthepatterninwhichtheyaremadesuggeststohimitwasnocoincidence.Idontthinktheyreran-domerosionalthingshesaidduringhispresenta-tion.TheyhavesufferedsomedamagebutIthinkthereisarealbiologicalsig-nalthere.DuringthepresentationHendersonshowedthesimi-larityoftheHayRivertrackstoasetofconrmedmid-DevonianeratracksfoundrecentlyinPoland.Hendersonbelievesthetracksweremadebyasar-copterygianatypeofeshy-nnedshfromwhichalllandanimalsarebelievedtoderive.Thoughsarcopterygiansweresalt-waterdwellerstheareawhichisnowAl-exandraFallswasactuallyatropicalcoastlineintheDevonianagebeforethecontinentssplitanddriftedaparttoformtheworldwerecognizetoday.Hendersonsaidheises-peciallyinterestedinfossil-izedtracksfortheinsighttheygiveintothewayanextinctanimalmayhavemoved.Fossiltracksaretheclos-estwehavetoamotionpic-tureofanextinctspecieshetoldTheJournal.DuringtheirvisitHen-dersonandCapobiancowerealsoabletostudyan-otherfossildiscoverymadebyDougLamaliceandhisfamily.LamalicesaidhewasoutatLouiseFallswithhisdaughtersAshleyandAmberwhentheydiscoveredwhatlookedtobefossilizedbonesembeddedintherockbelowthefalls.Hendersonbelievesthemtoberibbonespossiblyfromafour-leggedtetrapodnamedichthyostega.HealsopraisedtheLamal-icefamilyfornotattemptingtoremovethefossilsfromwheretheywerefoundasitisbestforscientiststobeabletostudythemintherock.Therocklayersarelikepagesofabookhesaid.PaleontologistDonHendersonrightandassistantChrisCapobiancooftheRoyalTyrrellMuseuminDrumhellerremoverockinthehopesofndingmorepristineandunerodedtracksalongtheHayRiverbelowAlexandraFalls.PhotoBruceGreenTheTownofInuvikwouldliketothankitsvolunteerfirefightersfortheircaringdiligenceandhardwork.TheTownofInuvikcelebratesFIREPREVENTIONWEEKTOWNOFINUVIK