What is the scientific consensus on the Zachelmie trackways and the evolution of tetrapods?
While the story of tetrapod evolution is usually explained through a history of intermediates like Tiktaalik and Acanthostega, the Zachelmie trackways were at least 10 million years older than Tiktaalik, and made by a tetrapod more advanced in lcomotion than Icthyostega and perhaps even Tulerpeton. Despite the fact this has been known since 2010, almost all science communicators still go through the traditional chain of tetrapodomorphs, while the relevant wikipedia articles still claim the traditional fishopod chain is stem-tetrapod.
So my question is, what is the academic consensus on this? Do we still think fishopods are our stem group and that the creator of this trackway belonged to a lost early sister branch? Do we believe that the creator of the trackways was our ancestors and the fishopods were a case of convergent evolution? Or were they not animal trackways of any sort in the first place?
Posted Jun 8, 2026, 4:32 PM UTC