The discovery by two local fossil hunters on a river bank in Victoria has ‘potentially far-reaching implications’, scientists sayFossilised claw prints found in Australia suggest amniotes – the ancestors of reptiles, birds and mammals – evolved about 40m years earlier than thought.The footprints, in sandstone dated 354m to 358m years old, were probably made by reptiles crossing a surface dimpled by raindrops. Researchers said the trackways represent the oldest evidence of amniotes on the planet.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...