Thousands of dinosaur footprints from around 210 million years ago have been found on a rock face in northern Italy.
A wildlife photographer made the discovery at Stelvio National Park, revealing “tens of thousands” of prints which are “more or less well-preserved”.
Initial estimations put the “spectacular” collection at around 20,000 prints spread across an area of three miles, with experts describing some of the prints as being up to 40cm wide and showing claw marks.
The tracks were discovered in September by Elio Della Ferrera, who was setting up to photograph deer and vultures when his camera was trained on a vertical wall above the nearest road.
He said: “The huge surprise was not so much in discovering the footprints, but in discovering such a huge quantity.
“There are really tens of thousands of prints up there, more or less well-preserved.”
Despite being in plain sight, the wall is mostly in the shade and the prints would still have been hard to spot without a very strong camera lens, he added.
Cristiano Dal Sasso, paleontologist at Milan’s Natural History Museum, said: “This is one of the largest and oldest footprint sites in Italy, and among the most spectacular I’ve seen in 35 years.
“This time reality really surpasses fantasy.
“There are very obvious traces of individuals that have walked at a slow, calm, quiet rhythmic pace, without running.”
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The prints were found at the entrance to the national park, a mile from the mountain town of Bormio, where the men’s alpine skiing will be held at the Winter Olympics in February.
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Experts believe the prints were left by herds of long-necked herbivores, likely plateosaurs, more than 200 million years ago during the Triassic period when the area was a warm lagoon.
The conditions would have been ideal for dinosaurs to roam along beaches, leaving tracks in the mud near the water “when the sediments were still soft”.
