The Ashfall Fossil Beds are famously known as “Rhino Pompeii” due to the fact they safeguarded a group of long-gone rhino bodies, that the newly discovered predators might have preyed upon.(Image credit: Ashley Poust)ShareShare by:
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Prehistoric pawprints have indicated that sizable, bone-pulverizing dog species roamed the dusty terrains of North America following a catastrophic Yellowstone super-eruption 12 million years prior.
Scientists detected the prints over the fossilized remains of vanished rhinoceroses referred to as Teleoceras situated in the Ashfall Fossil Beds of northeastern Nebraska. These canine impressions offer the foremost explicit proof of vast carnivorous creatures in the beds, often called “Rhino Pompeii” because of the well-preserved remains of many Teleoceras rhinos, victims of prevalent volcanic emissions from Yellowstone’s past.
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Primitive horses, giraffe-resembling camels, various rhinos and numerous other creatures were encased inside glassy ash at the Nebraska location. However, until this footprint discovery, researchers hadn’t unearthed concrete indications of large flesh-eating animals in the beds, a rather peculiar situation considering how many prey specimens were preserved.
These footprints hit lengths nearing 3.2 inches (8 centimeters) and widths around 3 inches (7.5 cm), fitting with the foot sizes of the large, extinct canids identified as Aelurodon taxoides and Epicyon saevus, which are recognized to have crushed and ingested bones akin to contemporary hyenas. Besides confirming the presence of hefty carnivores inside the beds, the location of the pawprints on the rhino layers hints that the dogs successfully endured the cataclysm that eradicated various species.
“The survival of apex predators subsequent to ecological devastation is somewhat unexpected and reveals crucial lessons concerning how life bounces back and adjusts subsequent to critical events,” said Poust. Being the foremost predators, they are susceptible to starvation upon the food chain’s failure.
The footprints might have been left by an Epicyon, depicted here pursuing ancient plant-eaters called Synthetoceras in the Pliocene period.
Poust revealed initial conclusions extracted from his study on Nov. 12 during the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology’s 2025 annual gathering in Birmingham, England. The findings are yet to be assessed by peers, since Poust alongside his team have not yet concluded their analysis and presented it for journal publication.
The clearest trails were recognized during 2014 and 2023, based on the researchers’ findings. While proper documentation for the footprints within a journal is still pending, knowledge about their existence isn’t under wraps. Poust stated that visitors within Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park are able to observe these tracks, and his team has carried out laser scanning on them within view of the public. Epicyon is likewise recorded on the ashfall animals web page, found on the University of Nebraska State Museum’s website.
At one time, Northeastern Nebraska presented a setting analogous to the African savanna plains. Poust pointed out that the Ashfall Fossil Beds preserved what was once a seasonal lake which supported aquatic organisms, like turtles, and drew many different animals.
“Picture a watering hole akin to the ones that are seen on present-day savannas, but featuring a collection of fairly unknown animals,” Poust described. “The grainy shore would have been a commonly shared spot between bird flocks and numerous groups consisting of short-legged rhinos, camels, and even five diverse species of horses; some displayed three toes on each of their feet.”
Scientists determined that measurements of these prints aligned with the dimensions exhibited by large prehistoric dogs known to roam North America during this era.
The canine prints exist across numerous layers of ash and face several different directions, that Poust and his associates cite as indication that these predators were undertaking extensive or repeated explorations of this locale subsequent to it getting thickly layered from volcanic emissions.
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It still remains unconfirmed how the dogs managed to survive through this period; nonetheless, one possibility revolves around them consuming deceased rhinos and other corpses right after the catastrophic event.
“Certain evidence appears to show that they could have scavenged among the creatures that didn’t pull through, utilizing these buried rhinos to be a food source,” Poust said. “Even so, we haven’t located bones originating from these carnivores, making it uncertain for the time being if this was ample to sustain them up to conditions improving or if they eventually were required to venture to find other avenues found throughout that wide disaster zone encompassing much of North America.”
Patrick PesterSocial Links NavigationTrending News Writer
Patrick Pester is the trending news writer at Live Science. His work has appeared on other science websites, such as BBC Science Focus and Scientific American. Patrick retrained as a journalist after spending his early career working in zoos and wildlife conservation. He was awarded the Master’s Excellence Scholarship to study at Cardiff University where he completed a master’s degree in international journalism. He also has a second master’s degree in biodiversity, evolution and conservation in action from Middlesex University London. When he isn’t writing news, Patrick investigates the sale of human remains.
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