Some of the greatest discoveries have been found in the most random ways. Like with chalk-covered hands and someone halfway up a limestone wall, realizing the rock beneath their fingers looks…a little weird.
That’s what happened in Italy’s Cònero Regional Park, where rock climbers spotted long, parallel grooves etched into a cliff face overlooking the Adriatic Sea. The markings piqued their interest. Earlier that year, similar traces in the same park had made headlines after scientists identified them as ancient marine reptile tracks. These climbers flagged the find to the geologist and fellow climber Paolo Sandroni, who looped in Alessandro Montanari of the Coldigioco Geological Observatory.
The team then returned to examine the site for a meticulous and methodical investigation. Sandroni and another team member collected rock samples and documented the surface using a drone. Their analysis, published in Cretaceous Research, points to something rare. Hundreds of tracks pressed into what was once a deep seabed, frozen in place by disaster.
Rock Climbers Stumbled Onto an 80-Million-Year-Old Discovery
The limestone layer, known as Scaglia Rossa, has been studied for decades. Today, it forms part of a mountain. Around 80 million years ago, it sat hundreds of meters underwater. Microfossils inside the rock confirm that depth, along with evidence of repeated seismic activity. Montanari told Live Science that an underwater earthquake likely set off a mud avalanche shortly after the tracks were made, locking them in place before currents or bottom-dwelling organisms erased them.
“Normally, any traces left by animals would be erased by currents at the sea bottom and worms, clams, and [other] benthic organisms,” Montanari said. “They basically garden the seafloor.”
As for who left the marks, they narrowed the list by the size of the prints. Only large marine reptiles lived there during the Late Cretaceous. The researchers argue sea turtles make the most sense, possibly startled into sudden movement when the earthquake hit. Some tracks head upslope, others angle toward deeper water, suggesting a group reacting all at once.
Not everyone is convinced. Michael Benton, a vertebrate paleontology professor at the University of Bristol, questioned the mechanics. “The tracks are unusual because they seem to show underwater punting,” he told Live Science, noting that turtles typically swim using a figure-eight motion. He also raised a simple question. Why not swim up and away?
Montanari agrees that the site needs further study. What he’s confident about is the geology. An earthquake happened. A seabed collapsed. Whatever made those tracks had seconds to move.
And thanks to bad timing 80 million years ago and good timing on a climb, we have another clue as to what happened on our planet long before we were here.
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