A hike in the Italian Alps would take an unexpected turn when a woman was pleasantly surprised to discover a fragment of a 280-million-year-old ecosystem, according to LiveScience.

On the fragment there were not only footprints, but also plant fossils and even raindrop imprints, the researchers confirmed.

OR Claudia Steffensen was walking behind her husband in the Valtellina Orobie Mountains Park in Lombardy in 2023 when she stepped on a rock that looked like a cement slab, The Guardian reported. “Then I noticed these strange circular patterns with wavy linesSteffensen told the newspaper. “I took a closer look and realized they were footprints».

Scientists analyzed the rock and determined that the tracks belong to a prehistoric reptile, raising questions about what other clues beyond Steffensen’s “rock zero” were hiding in these alpine heights.

Subsequently, experts visited the site several times and found evidence of an entire ecosystem dating back to Permian period (299 million to 252 million years ago). The Permian period was characterized by a rapidly warming climate and culminated in an extinction event known as the “Great Dying”, which wiped out 90% of Earth’s species.

Ecosystem traces come from reptiles, amphibians, insects and arthropods. Next to these tracks, the researchers found ancient traces of seeds, leaves and stems, as well as imprints of raindrops and waves that fell on the shores of a prehistoric lake. Evidence of this ancient ecosystem has been found as high as 9,850 feet (3,000 meters) in the mountains and down on the valley floor, where landslides have deposited fossil-bearing rocks over the centuries.

The ecosystem from which the fossils come, which they have been preserved in excellent condition due to its ancient proximity to the waterreveals impressive prints. These prints were created when sand and mud, soaked with water on the banks of rivers and lakes, dried under the summer sun, hardening the surfaces. When the water returned, it covered them with clay, creating a protective layer. The extreme fineness of the sand and mud preserved the smallest details, including claw marks. The prints belong to at least five different species, some of which may have been the size of modern Komodo dragons. These animals lived before the dinosaurs, at the end of the Permian period.

The fossils, uncovered by melting ice and snow in the Alps, offer a glimpse into an ancient world and can also teach us lessons about the environmental changes we face today. The researchers note the symmetry between past global warming trends and today’s climate change, highlighting the lessons the past can teach us about the dangers of the present.