A hiker in the northern Italian Alps has stumbled upon the first traces of what scientists believe to be an entire prehistoric ecosystem. The find includes well-preserved traces of reptiles and amphibians discovered as a result of the melting snow and ice caused by the climate crisis, the Guardian reported.
The discovery in the Valtellina Orobii mountain range in Lombardy dates back 280 million years, to the Permian period - the age that preceded the dinosaurs, scientists say.
Claudia Steffensen, from Lovero, a village in the province of Sondrio, and her husband were walking along a rocky path in the Ambrian Valley, near the Swiss border, when she stepped on a light grey rock covered in "strange drawings".
"It was a very hot day last summer and we wanted to escape the heat, so we went into the mountains," says Steffensen.
"On the way back down we had to walk very carefully along the path. My husband was in front of me looking straight ahead while I was looking at my feet. I stepped on a rock, which seemed strange to me as it looked more like a cement slab. Then I noticed these strange circular drawings with wavy lines. I looked closer and realised they were footprints," she added.
Steffensen takes a photo and sends it to his friend Elio Della Ferrera, a nature photographer. Della Ferrera then sends the photo to Cristiano Dal Sasso, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in Milan, who in turn consults other experts.
The prints, found at 1,700 metres above sea level, turn out to be those of a prehistoric reptile.
The experts mapped the area of the Valtellina Orobí Natural Park, including at an altitude of almost 3,000 metres. Visits to the site since the summer of 2023 have revealed hundreds of other fossilised prints of reptiles, amphibians and insects, which scientists say often form "footprints". The tracks are believed to come from at least 5 different species of animals.
"The dinosaurs didn't exist yet, but the authors of the largest footprints must have been of considerable size - up to 2-3 meters in length," Dal Sasso said.
Lorenzo Marchetti, an ichnologist, or fossil trace specialist, at the Natural History Museum in Berlin, said the preservation of the footprints was such that they revealed "impressive details", such as "claw marks and skin on the abdomen of some animals".
The ecosystem also reveals fossilised plant fragments, seeds and even raindrop prints.
The Permian period ended with the largest mass die-off caused by a sudden rise in temperature the world has ever known. Global warming has today revealed traces of other prehistoric animals in the Italian Alps, including reptile footprints,, found at an altitude of 2,200 m in the Altopiano della Gardetta, in the province of Cuneo in Piedmont.
"The discovery in the Ambria valley is also a consequence of climate change," said Doriano Codega, president of the Valtellina Orobi Nature Park. "The extraordinary thing is the altitude - these relics were found at a very high level and are very well preserved. This is an area subject to landslides, so there were also rock debris that brought these fossils to light. This is a very important paleontological discovery."
Some of the relics were recently brought to Milan and put on display at the Natural History Museum this week. Research at the site will continue, experts say. | BGNES
