The Zapata Footprint is an alleged human footprint embedded in a Permian rock in New Mexico.

Referred to by some as the New Mexico track or the Zapata track, a number of conspiracy theories have been woven around it.

A Permian Mystery?

Those in favor of its authenticity (?) argue it is the ultimate evidence that humans walked on Earth hundreds of millions of years ago, completely ignoring what modern science tells us.

According to experts, one of the earliest defining human traits, bipedalism, the ability to walk on two legs, evolved over 4 million years ago. As noted by the Smithsonian, humans first evolved in Africa, and much of human evolution occurred on that continent. The fossils of early humans who lived between 6 and 2 million years ago come entirely from Africa.

More importantly, early humans first migrated out of Africa into Asia between 2 million and 1.8 million years ago.

They entered Europe somewhat later, between 1.5 million and 1 million years.

Species of modern humans populated many parts of the world much later.

For instance, people first came to Australia presumably within the past 60,000 years and to the Americas within the past 30,000 years or so. (Retrieved humanorigins.si.edu 5/10/2019)

But…

The footprint itself has not been the subject of actual scientific study; nonetheless, it has been claimed that the footprint from the Permian period is genuine.

During the Permian, the world was dominated by two continents known as Pangaea and Siberia, surrounded by a global ocean called Panthalassa.

One of the researchers who argue the footprint is genuine is Dr. Don Patton, who, according to his website, worked as a geologist in the US, Canada, Australia, England, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Jordan, Israel, and Turkey.

Patton also worked as an archeologist in various missions, including the United States, Mexico, Peru, France, Italy, Israel, Jordan, Cambodia, and Turkey.

That quite a resume, right?

However, the degrees and Ph.D. he claims he has have been found to be academically invalid, and are apparently related to unaccredited Christian institutions.

290 Million Year Old Footprint This footprint is 290 million-years-old.Learn more of our hidden ancient past: http://bit.ly/2nxt70q Posted by Gaia on Monday, February 12, 2018

A strange discovery

As noted by Patton, the footprint itself was supposedly identified in 1987 by paleontologist Jerry MacDonald who found fossilized tracks from many various species of animals and birds in Permian strata, between 290 to 248 million years ago. Among them was the enigmatic footprint.

But that may not be entirely true.

Among the many imprints discovered by Macdonald, a plethora of them were controversial because of their resemblance to imprints of animals from much later periods, including imprints left behind by animals akin to modern birds, as well as bears.

The Permian was a period long before the Dinosaurs, let alone the appearance of relatively modern animals and birds.

Having that said, there is no actual evidence that MacDonald ever found the mysterious human footprint.

In fact, all details pointing towards MacDonald as being the print’s discoverer come from Patton’s writing.

Despite drawing interest from ‘alternative’ researchers due to its incredible age, the alleged footprint has not been demonstrated to be real.

Furthermore, as explained by author Glen J. Kuban, the footprint shows a number of features not typical of genuine human prints.

Kuban explains that the line and position of the toes are unnatural and that footprints ball is narrower and rounder compared to other, more genuine prints. Furthermore, Kuban notes that a skilled carved would have no issues whatsoever to reproduce a footprint like the one claimed by Patton as original, by simply removing matrix farther away from the print.

A story that doesn’t hold water

Since no research has been done on the footprint, and since it has not attracted serious scientific studies, the footprint has been dubbed as a hook line for creationist history and creationist propaganda.

What is worrying is the fact that the footprint has apparently been ‘cut out’ from the bedrock, as we can see in images from Patton.

Furthermore, considering the strong claims made by Patton and his supporters, it is surprising, to say the least, that to date, no scientific studies have been published on the matter. No details whatsoever have been presented about the footprint’s geological or paleontology of the host formation.

What we do know is that the footprint itself is on a loose block of rock, and no evidence has ever been presented that argues it was ever part of a striding sequence or part of a Permian formation.

In fact, in the above image, we can see Don Patton in front of the controversial imprint, and it seems like the curious imprint is actually located on a separate slab of stone, or a type plaster caster, rather than an in-situ footprint, just as Glen J. Kuban previously explained.

So what does that mean? It means that the footprint presented by Patton has never been demonstrated to be a real human footprint. Furthermore, there is no evidence whatsoever that the rock came from a Permian rock formation.

Given the lack of data and studies, and without more substantial evidence concerning its origin, the footprint is a curiosity at most, and not evidence of humans walking the Earth, hundreds of millions of years ago.