Thousands of dinosaur footprints found near Winter Olympics site in Italy

KANIKA SINGH RATHORE,

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Dinosaur footprints spanning thousands of kilometers have been found on a steep cliff in Italy’s Stelvio National Park.

Paleontologists are hailing the discovery, located 2,000 meters above sea level in the glacial Valle di Fraile, one of the world’s richest sites from the Triassic period.

Track, near Bormio – A 2026 winter olympics The site in northern Lombardy – spanning approximately five kilometres.

These fossilized impressions, up to 40 cm wide, with obvious claw marks, offer a rare glimpse of prehistoric life.

Carabinieri officer Giacomo Regazzoni, left, and park employee Elia Vitalini inspect Late Triassic prosauropod footprints discovered in the Fraile Valley in northern Italy.

Carabinieri officer Giacomo Regazzoni, left, and park employee Elia Vitalini inspect Late Triassic prosauropod footprints discovered in the Fraile Valley in northern Italy. ,Elio Della Ferrara/Stelvio National Park via AP,

Cristiano Dal Sasso, a paleontologist at Milan’s Natural History Museum, expressed his surprise at a press conference in Lombardy.

He said, “It is one of the largest and oldest footprint sites in Italy, and the most spectacular place I have seen in the last 35 years.”

Experts believe long-necked herbivores, possibly plateosaurs, left prints more than 200 million years ago.

A Late Triassic prosauropod footprint was discovered in the Fraile Valley in northern Italy.

A Late Triassic prosauropod footprint was discovered in the Fraile Valley in northern Italy. ,Elio Della Ferrara/Stelvio National Park via AP,

The area was then a warm lagoon, ideal for dinosaurs to roam the beaches and leave tracks in the mud near the water.

Fabio Massimo Petti, an ichnologist at Trento’s MUSE museum, told the conference: “The footprints were impressed when the sediments were still soft, on the wide tidal flats that surround the Tethys Ocean.”

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He added: “The mud, now turned to rock, has allowed remarkable anatomical details of the feet to be preserved, such as the marks of toes and even claws.”

The dramatic shift from horizontal sea level to vertical mountain slopes occurred when the African Plate slowly moved north, causing the Tethys Ocean to close and dry up.

Attilio Fontana, president of the Lombardy region, attends a press conference on the discovery of thousands of dinosaur tracks in the Lombardy region, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025.

Attilio Fontana, president of the Lombardy region, attends a press conference on the discovery of thousands of dinosaur tracks in the Lombardy region, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. ,Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved,

Then sedimentary rocks from the ocean floor folded, forming the Alps. Experts said the fossilized tracks were spotted in September by a wildlife photographer chasing deer and bearded vultures.

Since the area cannot be reached by footpaths, drones and remote sensing technologies will be used for the study.

Giovanni Malago, President of Milano Cortina 2026 Organizing Committeetold journalists: “Natural science offers the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games an unexpected and priceless gift from distant ages.”

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