Travelers discovered a 280 million-year-old prehistoric ecosystem in the Alps. Photo

In the northern Italian Alps, travelers accidentally stumbled upon strange footprints. Scientists believe they are an entire prehistoric ecosystem with well-preserved reptile and amphibian prints.

The discovery in the Valtellina mountain range in Lombardy dates back 280 million years to the Permian period, which immediately preceded the dinosaurs. According to scientists, the prints are perfectly preserved, The Guardian reports.

Claudia Steffensen and her husband were walking along a rocky path in the Ambria Valley, near the Swiss border. When the woman stepped on the light gray rock, she saw "strange drawings" under her feet.

"It was a very hot day and we wanted to cool off, so we went to the mountains. Suddenly I put my foot on a stone that seemed strange to me, more like a slab of cement. Then I noticed these strange circular patterns with wavy lines. When I looked closer, I realized that they were footprints," said Claudia.

The traveler took a photo and sent it to paleontologists. Experts determined that the tracks found at an altitude of 1700 meters above sea level belonged to a prehistoric reptile.

The scientists mapped the territory of the Valtellina Nature Park, including an altitude of almost 3000 meters. Since the summer of 2023, researchers have discovered hundreds of other fossilized footprints of reptiles, amphibians, and insects in the area. The footprints are believed to come from at least five different species.

"Dinosaurs didn't exist back then, but the authors of the largest local footprints must have been impressive in size – up to 2-3 meters long," said Cristiano Dal Sasso, a paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History in Milan.

Lorenzo Marquette, a fossil trace specialist at the Museum of Natural History in Berlin, noted that the tracks were so well preserved that scientists found "striking details" such as "nail prints and the skin of the abdomen of some animals."

The ecosystem also revealed fossilized fragments of plants, seeds, and even prints of raindrops.

According to the scientists, the Permian period ended with the largest mass extinction triggered by a sudden rise in temperature that the world has ever known.

The current global warming has revealed many traces of prehistoric animals in the Italian Alps, researchers say.

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