Jurassic footprints found on Skye reveal insight into dinosaur evolution
Two tracklines used by the 170 million-year-old reptiles were identified on the island’s north-east coast.
Dozens of newly discovered giant dinosaur footprints on a Scottish island are helping to shed light on the Jurassic reptiles’ evolution.
The 170 million-year-old tracks were made in a muddy lagoon off the north-east coast of what is now the Isle of Skye.
Most of the prints were made by the “older cousins” of Tyrannosaurus rex, called theropods – which stood up to two metres tall – and by similarly sized long-necked sauropods.
The find is considered to be globally important as it is rare evidence of the Middle Jurassic period, from which few fossil sites have been found around the world.
Dr Steve Brusatte, from the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences, who led the field team, said: “The more we look on the Isle of Skye, the more dinosaur footprints we find.
“This new site records two different types of dinosaurs – long-necked cousins of Brontosaurus and sharp-toothed cousins of T. rex – hanging around a shallow lagoon, back when Scotland was much warmer and dinosaurs were beginning their march to global dominance.”
The largest of the embed marks are 70cm across, left by a sauropod, while the largest theropod track was around 50cm across.
Tidal conditions made studying the footprints difficult, as well as the impact of weathering and changes to the landscape.
However, scientists still managed to identify two trackways in addition to many isolated footprints.
Researchers used drone photographs to make a map of the site, while additional images were collected using a paired set of cameras and tailored software to help model the prints.
Paige dePolo, who led the study, conducted the research while an inaugural student in the university’s research Master’s degree programme in palaeontology and geobiology.
Ms DePolo said: “It was found in rocks that were slightly older than those previously found at Duntulm on the island and demonstrates the presence of sauropods in this part of the world through a longer timescale than previously known.
