Dinosaur Footprints: Italy's Triassic Treasure Unearthed

High in Italy's Stelvio National Park, near the 2026 Winter Olympic venue of Bormio, a significant paleontological discovery has been announced: one of the largest collections of dinosaur footprints ever found. Dating back an astonishing 210 million years to the Triassic Period, these tracks represent a remarkable window into a prehistoric coastal landscape.

The discovery, made by wildlife photographer Elio Della Ferrera, has yielded an estimated 20,000 footprints spread across five kilometers. Experts believe the prints belong to large, bipedal herbivores, potentially similar to the Plateosaurus, weighing up to four tons and measuring up to 10 meters long. The size of the tracks, some 40 centimeters wide with visible claws, provides detailed evidence of these ancient creatures.

Analysis of the footprints suggests the dinosaurs moved in packs, sometimes stopping in circular formations, possibly for protection. The calm, rhythmic pace observed in the tracks indicates they were not running. This extraordinary find, located at high altitudes near the Swiss border, is considered a significant paleontological treasure, offering new insights into dinosaur behavior and migration patterns during the Triassic era.