Scientists are excited by the golden opportunity to study an incredibly well-preserved fossil world from the Paleozoic Era, which predates the dinosaurs.
Researchers move fossils into transport material on October 21.
Photo: Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of the Provinces of Como, Lecco, Monza-Brianza, Pavia, Sondrio and Varese (Italy)
A team of experts is embarking on an effort to study a complete ecosystem from the Paleozoic era (538.8 million to 251 million years ago), which was accidentally discovered by a mountain climber.
The ancient world, dating back 280 million years, is located within the Orobie Valtellinesi National Park in the Italian Alps. It is so well preserved that researchers have found everything from amphibian and reptile footprints, fossilized plants and seeds, to animal belly prints and even fossilized raindrops.
For archaeologists, this is no different from an "ancient wonderland", according to Popular Mechanics on November 21.
"The shape and size of the traces show an impressive level of preservation and ancient biodiversity, perhaps even higher quality than what has been observed in sediments of the same age," said Lorenzo Marchetti of the Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Research in Berlin, Germany.
The fossil world in question remained isolated from the outside world for hundreds of millions of years until it was exposed due to rapid ice melting due to climate change and discovered by mountaineer Claudia Steffensen in the summer of 2023.
“It was a very hot summer day,” Steffensen told The Guardian . Because it was so hot, she and some acquaintances decided to climb the Alps. On the way back, she discovered a strangely shaped rock at an altitude of more than 1,600m above sea level.
Ms. Steffensen decided to take pictures and send them to a friend, photographer Elio Della Ferrera. The friend passed the images on to the Natural History Museum of Milan (Italy).
Researchers went in and tracked the fossils up to an altitude of more than 3,000 m.
"Dinosaurs had not yet emerged," says paleontologist Cristiano Dal Sasso of Milan's Natural History Museum.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nha-leo-nui-bat-ngo-lac-vao-xu-so-than-tien-cach-day-280-trieu-nam-185241122094226533.htm
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