Ancient desert dwellers

Even in the vast paleodesert of Botucatu, where almost no corporeal fossils have been preserved, the preserved footprints allow us to learn something about the inhabitants who walked there. The producer of the ichnofossil Aracoaraichnium leonardii was possibly a Mammaliaforme, with short legs, smaller hands than feet, and four toes on each. Here, it is shown predating a small theropod, with the shape of its feet also inferred from minute footprints. Another inhabitant of the desert would be beetles, like the producer of Paleohelcura araraquarensis. Many of these animals were likely active during the night, avoiding the scorching temperatures of the day.