Fossilized fish trails reveal earliest steps out of water.

The article discusses a study that presents the earliest known fossil evidence of fish attempting to live on land, potentially pushing back the timeline of vertebrate migration from water by at least 10 million years. Researchers discovered over 240 fossilized pits and trails in the Holy Cross Mountains of Poland, which they believe were made by ancient lungfish, a group closely related to the ancestors of all four-limbed land animals. The study suggests that these fish exhibited behaviors similar to modern lungfish, using their mouths and fins to crawl on land. Additionally, the findings indicate a possible preference for left-sided movement among these ancient creatures, which may represent the earliest record of handedness. However, some experts remain skeptical about attributing the trace fossils to lungfish, highlighting the need for further research to clarify their origins. [Extracted from the article]