MILAN (AP) — A wildlife photographer stumbled upon one of the oldest and largest known collections of dinosaur footprints, dating back about 210 million years to the Triassic Period, high in an Italian national park near the Cortina 2026 Milan Winter Olympics site in Bormio, authorities announced Tuesday.

The discovery in Stelvio National Park was surprising for the sheer number of footprints, estimated at up to 20,000 over about 5 kilometers (3 miles), and the location near the Swiss border, which was once a prehistoric coastal area, where dinosaur footprints had never been found before, experts said.

“Certainly, this time reality surpasses fantasy,” said Cristiano Dal Sasso, a paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History in Milan, who received the first call from wildlife photographer Elio Della Ferrera after make the discovery.

The footprints are believed to be from long-necked bipedal herbivores that measured up to 10 meters (33 feet) long and weighed up to 4 tons, similar to a Plateosaurus, Dal Sasso said. Some of the prints were 40 centimeters wide, with visible claws.

The footprints indicated that dinosaurs traveled in herds and sometimes stopped in circular formations, possibly as a protective measure.

“There are very obvious traces of individuals who have walked at a slow, calm, calm and rhythmic pace, without running,” Dal Sasso said at a press conference.

The footprints were discovered by Della Ferrera, who went out to photograph deer and vultures in September, when his camera focused on a vertical wall about 600 meters (2,000 feet) above the nearest road.

The location, a About 2,400 to 2,800 meters (7,900-9,200 feet) above sea level, on a north-facing wall that is mostly in shadow, made the footprints, even with the naked eye, particularly difficult to detect without a very powerful lens, Dal Sasso said.

Della Ferrera explained that something strange caught his attention, and he climbed a vertical rock wall with some difficulty to get a closer look.

“The big surprise was not so much discovering the footprints, but discovering such an enormous amount,” commented Della Ferrera. “There really are tens of thousands of footprints up there, more or less well preserved.”

The entrance to the park, where the footprints were discovered, is just 2 kilometers from the mountain town of Bormio, where men's alpine skiing will be held during the Winter Olympics, Feb. 6-22.

Lombardy regional governor Attilio Fontana hailed the discovery as a “gift for the Olympic Games,” although the site is too remote. for winter access, and no plans have been made for eventual public access.

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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.