Scientists in Australia have identified the oldest known fossil footprints of a reptile-like animal on a slab of sandstone recovered near Melbourne.

Seventeen footprints preserved in a slab of sandstone discovered in southeastern Australia dating to about 355 million years ago are rewriting the history of the evolution of land vertebrates, showing that reptiles arose much earlier than previously known.

The creature could lay eggs on land, unlike amphibians. It was part of a large group known as “amniotes,” which would evolve into dinosaurs, birds, and mammals.