A cast is being made of tracks left by a two-metre long ancient animal in north east Fife.
The tracks were made by a giant six-legged “sea scorpion” called Hibbertopterus as it crawled over damp sand about 330 million years ago.
It is the largest known walking trackway of a eurypterid or any invertebrate animal.
The tracks were discovered by Dr Martin Whyte from the University of Sheffield while he was out walking.
Scottish Natural Heritage, which is funding the project, described the find as unique and internationally important because the creature was gigantic.
The trackway, which is preserved in sandstone, consists of three rows of crescent shaped footprints on each side of a central groove.
The groove was made by the tail of the animal as it dragged over the sand.
This contrasts previous fossil evidence which suggested that the creatures lived in the water for most, if not all of the time.
Source: BBC [link].
