Aeolianites and cemented foreshore deposits on South Africa's Cape south coast have the capacity to record and preserve events that transpired on them when they were composed of unconsolidated sand. Thirty-five Pleistocene elephant tracksites have been identified along this coastline. This abundance of sites along what was the margin of the vast Palaeo-Agulhas Plain allows for an appreciation of the forms that elephant tracks and traces can take in the context of the global proboscidean track record. They point to a significant regional elephant presence from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 (~400 ka) through MIS 5 (~130–80 ka) to MIS 3 (~35 ka) and also indicate repeated use of certain dune areas. They buttress Holocene and historical evidence that elephants made use of open areas in the region, and that the remaining “Knysna elephants” retreated into dense afrotemperate forest for protection in recent centuries. Analogies can be drawn between Pleistocene elephant tracks and Mesozoic dinosaur tracks, and some of the Cape south coast elephant tracks are among the largest Cenozoic (and hence, Quaternary) tracks ever to be described. A newly identified tracksite in this area may provide the first reported evidence of elephant trunk-drag impressions.

中文翻译：

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南非开普南海岸更新世大象足迹的形态和可能的象鼻拖曳印象

南非开普南海岸的风积岩和胶结前滨沉积物有能力记录和保存由松散沙子组成的事件。沿着这条海岸线已经确定了 35 个更新世大象的足迹。沿着广阔的古厄加勒斯平原边缘的这些丰富的遗址使人们能够在全球长鼻类动物追踪记录的背景下欣赏大象足迹和踪迹可以采取的形式。他们指出从海洋同位素阶段 (MIS) 11 (~400 ka) 到 MIS 5 (~130-80 ka) 到 MIS 3 (~35 ka) 的重要区域性大象存在，并且还表明重复使用某些沙丘区域。它们支持全新世和大象利用该地区开放区域的历史证据，近几个世纪以来，剩下的“克尼斯纳象”撤退到茂密的温带森林中进行保护。可以在更新世大象足迹和中生代恐龙足迹之间进行类比，一些开普南海岸的大象足迹是有史以来最大的新生代（因此也是第四纪）足迹之一。该地区新发现的轨道站点可能会提供第一个报告的大象躯干拖曳印象的证据。