Photographer Finds Thousands Of Triassic Dinosaur Prints On Sheer Mountain Cliffs

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February 17, 2026

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Mountain photographer stumbles connected 1 of nan largest ever collections of Triassic dinosaur prints

A newfound tract successful nan Italian Alps holds 1 of nan largest collections of Triassic dinosaur footprints ever seen

By Humberto Basilio edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier

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Last September photographer Elio Della Ferrera spotted thousands of dinosaur tracks traversing vertical stone faces successful nan Fraele Valley of Stelvio National Park, precocious successful nan Italian Alps. Some of nan prints, spanning arsenic galore arsenic 40 centimeters across, day backmost astir 210 cardinal years, making nan recently identified tract 1 of nan richest deposits of Triassic dinosaur tracks successful nan world.

The footprints are truthful good preserved that “it took maine a fewer seconds to recognize nan photos were real,” says paleontologist Cristiano Dal Sasso of nan Natural History Museum of Milan, who is starring nan investigation of nan site. “Now we tin spell backmost successful clip and study nan improvement of dinosaurs successful this place.”

In a preliminary study, Dal Sasso and his squad deduced that nan prints were made by herds of large, herbivorous dinosaurs, astir apt prosauropods, ancestors of Jurassic sauropods specified arsenic Brontosaurus. The tracks formed erstwhile dinosaurs walked crossed muddy tidal flats on nan shores of nan prehistoric Tethys Ocean, agelong earlier nan Alps rose.

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Studying this recently named “Triassic Park” will beryllium challenging because it is truthful difficult to access, Dal Sasso says—researchers will person to trust connected drones and distant sensing to study and digitally sphere nan footprints.

Two group looking up astatine a slab of stone pinch dinosaur footprints.

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