In 2023, a hiker in the Italian Alps found a 280-million-year-old link to the prehistoric world.

In 2023, a hiker in the Italian Alps found a 280-million-year-old link to the prehistoric world.


March 4, 2025 | Miles Brucker

In 2023, a hiker in the Italian Alps found a 280-million-year-old link to the prehistoric world.


Hiker Stumbles Upon Deep Past

While hiking in the Italian Alps, a woman found a piece of an ecosystem that is 280 million years old. Scientists have confirmed that it contains footprints, plant fossils, and even raindrop imprints. Let’s take a closer look at the matter. 

Hiker

Ancient Footprints

In 2023, Claudia Steffensen was hiking behind her husband in the Valtellina Orobie Mountains Park in Lombardy, Italy, when she stepped on a rock that felt like a slab of cement. What happened next would lead to astonishing insights.

Dinosaur TracksFootwarrior, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

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Ancient Footprints (Cont.)

She told The Guardian that she noticed strange circular shapes with wavy lines and took a closer look. That’s when she realized they were actually footprints, which marked an unexpected discovery that attracted scientific interest and further examination.

RockHiker Stumbles Across 280-Million-Year-Old Fossil Gold Mine by The Weather Network

Prehistoric Reptile Tracks

Scientists analyzed the rock and confirmed that the footprints belonged to a prehistoric reptile. This discovery raises new questions about what other clues might be hidden in these Alpine heights. Let’s dive deeper into what all of this could mean. 

Dinosaur footprintsjynus, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Searching For More Clues

Beyond Steffensen’s “rock zero” (the name given to her find), there could be more evidence waiting to be uncovered. Researchers are now looking deeper into the area in the hope to learn more about the ancient creatures that once roamed this place.

Rock ZeroHiker Stumbles Across 280-Million-Year-Old Fossil Gold Mine by The Weather Network

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Permian Ecosystem Uncovered

Experts visited the site multiple times and found evidence of an entire ecosystem from the Permian period, which lasted from 299 million to 252 million years ago. Moreover, this era reportedly experienced a rapidly warming climate.

ExpertsHiker Stumbles Across 280-Million-Year-Old Fossil Gold Mine by The Weather Network

Permian Ecosystem Uncovered (Cont.)

The period ended with the Great Dying, a mass extinction that wiped out 90% of Earth’s species. The discovery offers a rare glimpse into this ancient world and reveals traces of life that existed long before the dinosaurs.

 Permian AgeDmitry Bogdanov, CC BY 3.0,  Wikimedia Commons

Past Climate

According to researchers, these fossils reveal a distant geological period that experienced a global warming trend strikingly similar to what is seen today. They offer a valuable perspective on the climate history of this planet.

DroughtPixabay, Pexels

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Fossilized Tracks

Reports suggest that this ancient ecosystem holds fossilized footprints from reptiles, amphibians, insects, and arthropods, often lining up to form tracks. Researchers also found traces of seeds, leaves, and stems, which tell us about the plant life of that time. 

Dinosaur FootprintsHiker Stumbles Across 280-Million-Year-Old Fossil Gold Mine by The Weather Network

Echoes Of Ancient Waters

Additionally, they discovered imprints of raindrops and wave patterns preserved from when a prehistoric lake once covered the area. These findings help piece together a long-lost world. But what else did the researchers discover? 

FossilHiker Stumbles Across 280-Million-Year-Old Fossil Gold Mine by The Weather Network

Traces Of Life At 9,850 Feet

Evidence of this ancient ecosystem has been discovered as high as 9,850 feet (3,000 meters) in the mountains and in the valleys below. Over millions of years, landslides have transported fossil-filled rocks down the slopes.

MountainHiker Stumbles Across 280-Million-Year-Old Fossil Gold Mine by The Weather Network

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Traces Of Life At 9,850 Feet (Cont.)

This scattered traces of prehistoric life across different elevations. These findings suggest that the ecosystem once covered a vast area. In the upcoming slides, you will learn how the tracks were able to be preserved over time.

DinosaursCharles Robert Knight, Wikimedia Commons

Water Helped Preserve Ancient Tracks

This ecosystem, preserved in fine-grained sandstone, remained intact thanks to its ancient closeness to water. According to a paleontologist at the University of Pavia in Italy, Ausonio Ronchi, the footprints were formed when these sandstones and shales were still sand.

Water DropJose Manuel Suarez, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Water Helped Preserve Ancient Tracks (Cont.)

He further added that the footprints were mud-soaked in water at the edges of rivers and lakes, which dried up seasonally over time. According to him, the summer sun dried these surfaces, which hardened them so much that when water returned, it didn’t wash away the footprints. 

Dinosaur Footprintjynus, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

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Claw Marks Frozen In Time

The fine grains of sand and mud preserved even the tiniest details, which included claw marks and patterns left by the animals’ underbellies, as per the statement. These delicate imprints provide a rare look at how these creatures moved across the area millions of years ago. 

Claw MarksJames St. John, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Claw Marks Frozen In Time (Cont.)

Scientists continue to analyze them to learn more about the species that left these marks. With each discovery, things are getting more and more interesting. You might be wondering what kind of animals left these imprints almost 10,000 feet above ground. Well...

ScientistLuvqs, Pixabay

Ancient Giants Walked These Lands

Researchers discovered imprints from at least five different animal species, some of which may have been as large as modern Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis), who reached lengths of 6.5 to 10 feet (2 to 3 meters).

Komodo DragonCharles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

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Decoding Ancient Footprint

These fossilized tracks provide valuable clues about the sizes and movements of prehistoric creatures that once roamed the area. Scientists are now working to identify these species and understand their role in this ancient ecosystem.

Dinosaur FootprintChulmin1700, Pixabay

Massive Reptiles Before Dinosaurs

Cristiano Dal Sasso, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Natural History Museum of Milan, explained that during that time, dinosaurs had not yet evolved. However, the animals that left the largest footprints in this area were still quite large. 

Cristiano Dal SassoMeet the media Guru from Milan, Italy, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Lost Giants

The finding suggests that giant creatures thrived in this ecosystem long before the age of dinosaurs. Now, let’s see what this profound discovery means for us and what great insight it has uncovered in the next slides.

EvidenceKoolShooters, Pexels

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Past Extinctions Teach Present Lessons

The fossils offer a glimpse into an ancient world whose creatures went extinct at the end of the Permian period. Researchers believe these findings can also help us better understand the world we live in today. 

FossilsJames L. Amos, CC0, Wikimedia Commons

Past Extinctions Teach Present Lessons (Cont.)

By studying how life responded to past climate changes and mass extinctions, scientists can gain valuable insights into Earth’s history and the challenges modern ecosystems may face in the future. This has introduced new possibilities in the realm of prehistoric research. 

Prehistoric AgeABelov2014 (https://abelov2014.deviantart.com/), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Warming Alps Expose Prehistoric Clues

Many of these prehistoric imprints would have remained hidden if not for climate change, which is rapidly melting the ice and snow in the Alps. As the glaciers recede, they expose fossils that have been buried for millions of years. 

Southern AlpsLasse Holst Hansen, CC0, Wikimedia Commons

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Aerial Tech Aids Discovery

Researchers are now reportedly utilizing drones to map fossils on vertical walls. At the same time, a helicopter is helping to recover specific finds in the unstable terrain, as transporting boulders would be impossible without aerial support.

DroneEmiliano Arano, Pexels

Training Ground For Discovery

Stefano Rossi, an official from the regional Superintendence of Archeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape, stated that the fossil deposit could become an important subject of study and evolve into a training ground for researchers and students.

FossilsWilson44691, Wikimedia Commons


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