{"id":126449,"date":"2024-11-16T08:57:58","date_gmt":"2024-11-16T01:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=126449"},"modified":"2024-11-16T08:57:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-16T01:57:58","slug":"ecosystem-that-predates-the-dinosaurs-uncovered-in-the-alps-by-melting-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=126449","title":{"rendered":"Ecosystem that predates the dinosaurs uncovered in the Alps by melting snow"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Beneath the snowy slopes lay a prehistoric surprise: an ecosystem that predates the dinosaurs, revealed by melting snow before being stumbled upon by a hiker in the Italian Alps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">The discovery, made public Wednesday, includes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/record-breaking-footprint-found-englands-dinosaur-coast-rcna70948\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:well-preserved footprints;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">well-preserved footprints <\/a>of reptiles and amphibians that scientists say date back 280 million years to a geologic period known as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/science\/environment\/earths-biggest-extinction-due-climate-volcanoes-researchers-n298831\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Permian period;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Permian period<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">\u201cDinosaurs had not yet emerged at this time, but the animals responsible for the largest footprints here would still have been impressive, reaching up to 2-3 meters in length,\u201d said Cristiano Dal Sasso, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in Milan, where the finds are now on display.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/hong-kong-discovers-dinosaur-fossils-first-time-rcna176980\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:fossils were discovered;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">fossils were discovered<\/a> in the mountains of northern <a href=\"https:\/\/nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/lake-como-can-air-tourist-destination-sale-11-italy-rcna178777\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Italy's Lombardy region;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Italy&#8217;s Lombardy region <\/a>after the snow and ice that once covered them melted away, scientists say, as a result of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/climate-in-crisis\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:ongoing climate crisis;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">ongoing climate crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"col-body mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Researchers move a boulder containing fossilized footprints in the Italian Alps.  (Elio Della Ferrera \/ Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/0nwEfRmaa18itegU3d6cjQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/nbc_news_122\/fe34e1585989cb0c42b2ef4f2daa77c8\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-[4] size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Researchers move a boulder containing fossilized footprints in the Italian Alps.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Claudia Steffensen was hiking along a trail in the Valtellina Orobie mountain range in the summer of 2023 when she stepped on a gray stone marked with unusual patterns.\u201cMy husband was in front of me, looking straight ahead, while I was looking toward my feet. I put my foot on a rock, which struck me as odd as it seemed more like a slab of cement. I then noticed these strange circular designs with wavy lines. I took a closer look and realized they were footprints,\u201d Steffensen told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2024\/nov\/14\/hiker-discovers-first-trace-of-entire-prehistoric-ecosystem-in-italian-alps\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:the Guardian;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">the Guardian <\/a>newspaper.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Intrigued, she snapped photos and shared them with her friend, Elio Della Ferrera, a nature photographer. Della Ferrera then contacted Dal Sasso, at the museum in Milan, to learn more about the discovery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Dal Sasso enlisted the expertise of two specialists: Ausonio Ronchi, a professor of stratigraphy at the University of Pavia in Northern Italy, and Lorenzo Marchetti, a fossil expert from the Natural History Museum in Berlin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Marchetti told NBC News on Friday that he was \u201camazed by the quality and quantity of the material,\u201d and said that while he had studied other Permian sites in the area, none seemed as \u201crich\u201d as this one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">The Permian period immediately predated the dinosaurs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Ronchi said he was also \u201csurprised by the abundance and preservation\u201d of the fossils when he first saw the images.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">\u201cIt is the first time we have seen such an amazing variety of vertebrate footprints, invertebrate tracks, imprints of flora, and other fossils,\u201d he said in an email.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">\u201cThese footprints were imprinted when the sandstones and clays were still wet,\u201d Ronchi said. \u201cThe summer sun dried those surfaces so thoroughly that when water returned, the footprints weren\u2019t washed away; rather, they were covered by new layers of clay that formed a protective coating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Continental fossils have previously been found in the Permian sediments of the Southern Alps, but none of this quality.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"col-body mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"A computer-generated image shows what prehistoric reptiles could have looked like. (Fabio Manucci \/ Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/7Iq7RrYBScp0ovLmynkygA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/nbc_news_122\/46ea1b627abfc7b8b7da793ea266e897\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-[4] size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>A computer-generated image shows what prehistoric reptiles could have looked like.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Starting in summer 2023, Della Ferrera and the research team conducted further inspections, photographing and mapping hundreds of fossilized traces across the mountain range, which rises to nearly 10,000 feet above sea level.The first fossils were airlifted out by helicopter last month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">As the fossils lie in the upper part of a mountain valley, which is covered by snow for most of the year, the discoveries are closely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/climate-in-crisis\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:linked to climate change;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">linked to climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Ronchi explained that in recent years, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/science\/environment\/earth-warming-record-rate-climate-change-rcna155709\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:rising temperatures;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">rising temperatures<\/a> have caused the ice to nearly disappear, leaving the debris where the fossils were found exposed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">\u201cLast year\u2019s ice is almost gone due to the rising temperatures, which uncovers the debris area where we found the fossils,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">\u201cBlocks of rock fall down from the steep walls of the reliefs as a consequence of cracking and erosion, so we expect to find many more tracks and fossils in the coming years,\u201d Ronchi said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">The research team said that the fossils uncover trends strikingly similar to those we are witnessing today: an intensifying greenhouse effect, melting polar ice and changing ecosystems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">These environmental shifts contributed to the extinction of many species, which we may now encounter as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/science\/science-news\/stegosaurus-skeleton-fossil-sells-record-44-million-auction-rcna162357\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:fossils;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">fossils<\/a> on a fortunate hike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">\u201cThe past has much to teach us about what we risk doing to the world today,\u201d the researchers warned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">This article was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/fossils-predates-dinosaurs-uncovered-italy-alps-hiker-melting-snow-rcna180300\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:NBCNews.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">NBCNews.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/ecosystem-predates-dinosaurs-uncovered-alps-163746500.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beneath the snowy slopes lay a prehistoric surprise: an ecosystem that predates the dinosaurs, revealed by melting snow before being stumbled upon by a hiker in the Italian Alps. The &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=126449\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8628],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=126449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126449\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=126449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=126449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=126449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}