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Elio de la Ferreira, Arch. GustelvioThousands of dinosaur footprints dating back 210 million years have been discovered in a national park in northern Italy.
The footprints, some of which are up to 40 cm (15 inches) in diameter, are arranged in parallel rows, and many show clear toe and claw marks.
The dinosaur is thought to be a prosauropod, a herbivore with a long neck, small head and sharp claws.
“I never expected to encounter such a spectacular find in the area where I live,” said Cristiano Dal Sasso, a paleontologist in Milan.
Illustration by Fabio Manucci, Arch. GustelvioLast September, a photographer discovered footprints stretching hundreds of meters on a vertical mountain wall in Stelvio National Park, northeast of Milan.
During the Triassic Period (approximately 250 to 201 million years ago), the Wall was a tidal flat that later became part of the Alps.
“This place is full of dinosaurs; it’s a huge scientific treasure,” Mr Dal Saso said.
The herds moved in harmony, he added, “and there are traces of more complex behavior, such as animals gathering in a circle, possibly for defensive purposes.”
Prosauropods were up to 10m (33 feet) long and walked on two legs, but in some cases handprints have been found in front of the tracks, suggesting they may have stopped and placed their forelimbs on the ground.
Elio de la Ferreira, Arch. GustelvioElio Della Ferrera, the photographer who discovered the site, said he hoped the discovery would “provoke reflection in all of us and highlight how little we know about the place we live in: our home, our planet.”
According to a press release from the Italian Ministry of Culture, the area is remote and inaccessible by road, so drones and remote sensing technology will be used instead.
Stelvio National Park is located in the Frei Valley on the border between Italy and Switzerland, close to where next year’s Winter Olympics will be held.
“It is as if history itself wanted to pay homage to the greatest global sporting event, uniting past and present, symbolically passing the baton between nature and sport,” the Italian Culture Ministry said.
