ARUSHA, TANZANIA—Two sets of hominin footprints could be lost if the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano erupts, according to a report in New Scientist. Scientists studying tremors in East Africa’s Rift Valley say the volcano, which has a widening crack on its west side, could erupt at any time. A set of 400 human footprints dating back 19,000 years is located just ten miles away from the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano at Engare Sero. The 3.7-million-year-old Laetoli hominin footprints are located a safer 70 miles away. Both sets of prints have been recorded with 3-D scans, but the prints are “not like fossilized bones that we can dig up and walk away with,” explained Kevin Hatala of Chatham Univeristy. 

For more on ancient footprints, go to “Proof in the Prints.”