Hikers in the Italian Alpes discovered what scientists believe was a prehistoric ecosystem that existed before the age of the dinosaurs

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Hikers in the Italian Alpes discovered what scientists believe was a prehistoric ecosystem that existed before the age of the dinosaurs

An ordinary hiking trip turned into a day of archaeological discovery for a couple who discovered prehistoric footprints dating back millions of years.

Claudia Steffensen was hiking with her husband through the Italian Alps last summer when she saw what she described as “strange designs” in the rock.

“It was a very hot day last summer and we wanted to escape the heat, so we went to the mountains,” Steffensen told the Guardian. “When we came back down, we had to walk carefully on the path. My husband was in front of me, facing forward, while I looked at my feet. I put my foot on a stone, which struck me as strange. as it seemed like a cement slab and then I noticed these strange circular designs with wavy lines and I looked closely and saw that it was footsteps.

Ancient footprints dating back millions of years were discovered when a husband and wife hiked across the Italian Alps. (Stock)

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Once he identified the signs as footprints, the findings were passed on and further researched by several experts.

The first step Steffensen took after finding the footprints was to send the photo to a friend who was a naturalist photographer.

The photographer then contacted a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in Milan named Cristiano Dal Sasso, according to the Guardian, who contacted other experts in the field.

The footprints found by Steffensen, which appeared to him as a result of melting ice and snow, were identified by experts as belonging to a prehistoric reptile.

The footprints found belonged to an animal from the time before the dinosaurs. (De Agostini via Getty Images/De Agostini via Getty Images)

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Experts have visited the site many times since the first footprints were found. Further exploration led to the discovery of hundreds of footprints of prehistoric reptiles, amphibians and insects. Plant remains, seeds and the appearance of raindrops have also been found at the site, according to the Guardian.

The footprints on the ground date back to the Permian period, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The period occurred between 251 and 299 million years ago, the time before the dinosaurs.

The period ended with the “worst extinction event in the history of the planet,” according to National Geographic, when 90 percent of marine life and 70 percent of land animals were wiped out.

“Dinosaurs didn’t exist yet, but the authors of the largest steps must have been huge – they could reach 2-3 meters in length,” Dal Sasso said in a statement, according to the Guardian.