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A 280-million-year-old hidden realm was inadvertently uncovered by a a woman during her hike in the Italian Alps .
While hiking with her spouse in the Valtellina Orobie Alps Park in Lombardy during 2023, Claudia Steffensen came across a light gray stone adorned with peculiar patterns.
As she took a closer look, she recognized that the patterns were indeed footprints of animals.
Steffensen forwarded images to a scientific group who concluded that the tracks were from a ancient reptilian creature that traversed the planet During the Permian era, which came right before the time of dinosaurs.
Subsequent exploration of the area allowed paleontologists to discover hundreds of additional fossilized tracks created by at least five different species of ancient reptiles, amphibians, and insects.
Although these creatures lived before the time of dinosaurs, some may have reached sizes ranging from six to twelve feet, according to researchers who made this announcement.
The group similarly discovered impressions of plant fossils—ranging from remnants of seeds, leaves, and stems—together with marks left by raindrops and waves upon the ancient lakeshore.
Co-researcher and specialist in trace fossils, Lorenzo Marchetti from the Museum of Natural History, Berlin mentioned that the prints were maintained with 'remarkable' clarity, including details such as 'fingernail marks and the stomach skin of certain creatures.'
The intricate details and exceptional preservation of these fossils can be attributed to their close association with water bodies in the past, as the researchers pointed out.
The ancient environment, located at elevations up to 10,000 feet and within valley floors, has been conserved in fine-grained sandstone.
Paleontologists likewise discovered claw marks and impressions from the undersides of these creatures.
"The footprints were formed when these sandstones and shales were initially layers of wet sand and mud along riverbanks and lake edges, where the waters would recede seasonally," explained co-researcher and paleontologist Ausonio Ronchi from the University of Pavia. statement .
Ronchi mentioned, 'The summer sun dried out these areas, making them so hard that when fresh water returned, it didn’t wash away the footprints; instead, they were coated with a new layer of clay, providing protection.'
The Permian period extended from 299 million to 252 million years ago.
Throughout this era, the worldwide climate underwent rapid warming, culminating in a major extinction event that signaled the close of this phase and resulted in the demise of 90 percent of Earth's species.
Paradoxically, contemporary global warming facilitated the unveiling of this ancient high-altitude environment, since the fossils were previously concealed beneath snowpacks that have now thawed due to the planet’s rising temperatures.
"The findings in the Ambria Valley are also a result of climate change," said Doriano Codega, who serves as the president of the Valtellina Orobie Nature Park. The Guardian .
The remarkable aspect was the elevation – these artifacts were discovered at considerable heights and remained remarkably intact. This region experiences frequent avalanches; consequently, there were instances of rocks breaking away, which exposed these fossils.
From 1850 onwards, due to human-induced climate change, Alpine glaciers have experienced a reduction of 30 to 40 percent in their surface area and lost about half of their volume, with an extra decrease of 10 to 20 percent occurring since 1980, as reported. Mont-Blanc Research Center for Alpine Ecosystems (CREA) .
The discovery of these fossils offers a window into an ancient ecosystem decimated by extreme global temperature rise. In this way, it also serves as a reminder of what's at stake as anthropogenic warming nears catastrophic levels.
"These fossils ... provide evidence of a remote geological era, yet one characterized by a pattern of global warming strikingly akin to what we observe today," the scientists stated.
'The past holds many lessons about the risks we face as we shape the world today.'
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