"Largest discovery site in the Alps" Thousands of dinosaur tracks discovered on rock face in northern Italy
Researchers have discovered thousands of dinosaur tracks on a rock face more than 2000 meters above sea level. What they reveal about life 200 million years ago.
17.12.2025, 00:00
17.12.2025, 06:55
SDA
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- Thousands of dinosaur tracks have been discovered at an altitude of over 2000 meters in the northern Italian Alps.
- According to a palaeontologist, this is the largest discovery site in the Alps and one of the "richest in the world"
- According to the researchers, the many imprints date from more than 200 million years ago and were probably left by long-necked herbivores.
- The tracks are up to 40 centimetres wide, and claw marks are also clearly visible.
Italian researchers have discovered thousands of dinosaur tracks in the Stelvio National Park in northern Italy. "It's a veritable dinosaur valley that stretches for kilometers.
It is the largest site in the Alps and one of the richest in the world," said palaeontologist Cristiano Dal Sasso from the Natural History Museum in Milan. The imprints were found on an almost vertical rock face at an altitude of more than 2000 meters.
According to the researchers, the numerous imprints date from more than 200 million years ago and were probably left behind by long-necked herbivores, which apparently traveled in large herds. Some of the tracks are up to 40 centimetres wide, and it is also clear that they are claw marks.
Possibly traces of plateosaurs
The exact location of the find is in the Valle di Fraele near Bormio - one of the areas where the Olympic competitions of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games are to take place in February. 200 million years ago, the area was a warm lagoon and therefore an ideal environment for the dinosaurs. The researchers assume that the animals were plateosaurs.
The researchers assume that the footprints were made when the ground was still soft and muddy. The mud at that time has since turned into rock. The traces are clearly visible today, even the anatomical details of the dinosaurs' feet.
Research will take decades
"It is a huge scientific legacy that will take decades to research," Dal Sasso continued. This is due to the fact that the traces were found in a place that is difficult to reach.
In some cases, investigation was only possible using drones. To make matters worse, the imprints are on an almost vertical wall. This is not the original position of the plane, but is the result of geological deformations.
