Pliocene Animal Trackways at Laetoli: Research and Conservation Potential

Laetoli, a paleoanthropological site in Northern Tanzania, is perhaps best known for its famous fossil hominid footprints that were discovered by Mary Leakey and her co-workers in 1978. The site not only preserves the hominid footprints but also trackways, which provide a snapshot of Pliocene faunal communities from East Africa and their inferred environments. Unlike the hominid footprints at site G, which have received tremendous attention, the animal trackways, especially at Localities 7, 8 and 10 have been neglected and are fast disappearing. In this paper, we discuss animal tracks at a newly discovered exposure and provide preliminary data on the tracks at this exposure and other sites. We also discuss the importance of the animal trackways as ecological indicators, which we have investigated as part of ongoing research and conservation efforts initiated by the Tanzania Field School in Paleoanthropology and the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) Tanzania Semester Abroad programs.