A mountaineer unexpectedly stumbled into a 'fairyland' dating back 280 million years.

Scientists are excited about the golden opportunity to study a remarkably well-preserved fossil world from the Paleozoic Era, even before the time of the dinosaurs.

Researchers moved the fossils into transport materials on October 21.

Photo: Agency for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape Supervision 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 (dating back 538.8 million to 251 million years), which was accidentally discovered by a mountaineer.

The ancient world , dating back 280 million years, lies within the Orobie Valtellinesi park in the Italian Alps. This area is so well preserved that researchers have been able to discover everything from the footprints of amphibians and reptiles, fossils of plants and seeds, to imprints from animal belly skin and even fossilized raindrops.

For archaeologists, this is nothing short of an ancient "fairyland," according to Popular Mechanics on November 21.

"The shape and size of the traces indicate an impressive level of preservation and ancient biodiversity, perhaps even higher than what has been observed in sediments of the same age," according to expert Lorenzo Marchetti of the Leibniz Institute for Evolutionary 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 revealed by the rapid melting of ice due to climate change and was discovered by mountaineer Claudia Steffensen in the summer of 2023.

"It was an incredibly hot summer day," Ms. Steffensen told The Guardian . Because of the heat, she and some acquaintances decided to hike in the Alps. On the way back, she discovered a strangely shaped rock formation at an altitude of over 1,600 meters above sea level.

Ms. Steffensen decided to take photos and send them to a friend, the photographer Elio Della Ferrera. Her friend then forwarded the images to the Natural History Museum of Milan (Italy).

Researchers stepped in and tracked the fossils up to an altitude of over 3,000 meters.

"Dinosaurs hadn't even been born yet," according to paleontologist Cristiano Dal Sasso of the Natural History Museum of Milan.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nha-leo-nui-bat-ngo-lac-vao-xu-so-than-tien-cach-day-280-trieu-nam-185241122094226533.htm