Palaeontology

Dinosaur 'stomping ground' on Scottish isle

By T.K. Randall
March 14, 2020 ·  1 comment

The Isle of Skye. Image Credit: CC BY 2.0 Neil H The wild and rugged island, which is situated just off the country's west coast, was home to a wide variety of dinosaur species some 170 million years ago during the Middle Jurassic era.

Now palaeontologists led by Paige dePolo at the University of Edinburgh have identified a number of previously unseen fossil footprints left in ancient coastal mudflats at two separate sites.

"The new tracksites help us get a better sense of the variety of dinosaurs that lived near the coast of Skye during the Middle Jurassic," she said.

Among the footprints are those of Deltapodus - a type of Stegosaur that grew up to 30ft long. The find represents the first time this species has been linked to the island.There are also three-toed footprints that may have belonged to some early bird-type dinosaurs.

"We knew there were giant long-necked sauropods and Jeep-sized carnivores, but we can now add plate-backed stegosaurs to that roster, and maybe even primitive cousins of the duck-billed dinosaurs too," said study co-author Dr Steven Brusatte.

"These discoveries are making Skye one of the best places in the world for understanding dinosaur evolution in the Middle Jurassic."

Another cool find on #Skye! 😱🐾 https://t.co/FC9CiYvucF #Scotland #Highlands #Islands #Prehistoric #Dinosaurs

— Outlandish Journeys (@OutlandishTour) March 12, 2020

Source: BBC News | Comments (1)

Tags: Dinosaur