gradus
rain falls on ancient ground,
footprints mark the earth.
In late 2021, while scouting the Mansfield Exposure of the Snowy Plains Formation for possible evidence of tetrapods, I uncovered a slab of mudstone bearing 18 distinct footprints - two trackways, a solitary print, clear claw impressions, and even fossilised raindrops.
Verified by globally renowed paleontologists, the fossil pushes back the origin of amniotes - the lineage that gave rise to reptiles - up to 40 million years. These footprints rewrite our evolutionary timeline as we know it, evidencing the potential split from amphibians to reptiles as far back as the Frasnian stage of the Devonian.
This fossil marks the earliest known evidence of terrestrial vertebrate life and fundamentally redefines the 'Age of Fishes'. These imprints are the first steps - the primi gradus - of our ancestors and redefine our evolutionary timeline.
To commemorate the find, we are releasing a limited series of 100 individually numbered bronze casts. These are being cast at the Elphinstone Foundry by Master Craftsman Phil Mune and are a perfect replica of the entire fossil slab found on that day in 2021.
