Coming from the Cambrian-age Krukowski quarry in central Wisconsin, this ichnofossil called Diplichnites may well represent some of the earliest animal footprints on land. When these footprints were made, what is now Wisconsin was some 10 degrees below the equator, and paleontologists believe the site was once a beach of a shallow marine environment.

No shelly animals are found in the Krukowski quarry, only trackways (Ichnofossils) and body impressions (such as in the case of the Jellyfish (Cnidarians). Besides a few mysterious trackways that cannot be named, one finds Diplichnites, Protichnites and Climactichnites. Together, this quarry tells a story just now being researched by paleontologists - hopefully, the result will be some shedding of more light on when and how life ventured from marine to land environment.

Early conjecture was that Diplichnites was the trace of a arthropod, such as wandering Myriapoda, which brings to mind an ancient centipede (Chilopoda). More recently, the Diplichnites tracks have been ascribed to a Euthycarcinoid arthropod.

This is a fine specimen that is loaded with many footprints (in the Cambrian-age sand. Note the curving trackway extending the length of the specimen. There has been no staining of this hyporelief specimen and the raised trackway has a naturally darker matrix. Also note the wide and deep shoreland sand ripples that are prototypical of many of the Krukowski quarry Ichnofossils plates.