An artist's impression of a sauropod dinosaur(L) on the Isle of Skye. See Centre Press stroy CPDINO; A "remarkable" collection of rare dinosaur tracks is helping scientists shed new light on some of the biggest animals ever to live on land.
A “remarkable” collection of rare dinosaur tracks in north Scotland is helping scientists shed new light on some of the biggest animals ever to live on land.
Hundreds of footprints and handprints – dubbed a “dinosaur disco” by researchers – were made by plant-eating sauropods around 170 million years ago on the Isle of Skye.
The discovery – the biggest dinosaur site ever found in Scotland – helps fill an important gap in the evolution the huge, long-necked animals, which were the biggest of the dinosaurs.
Scientists at Edinburgh University identified the tracks in layers of rock, which would have been at the bottom of a shallow, salt water lagoon when the prints were made.
By analysing the structure of the footprints, the researchers found that the dinosaurs were early, distant relatives of more well-known species, such as Brontosaurus and Diplodocus.
A sediment cast of a sauropod dinosaur footprint on the Isle of Skye.
Dr Steve Brusatte (R) and Dr Tom Challands(L) by sauropod dinosaur tracks on the Isle of Skye.
Dr Steve Brusatte (L) and Dr Tom Challands(R) by sauropod dinosaur tracks made 170 million years ago on the Isle of Skye.
An artist’s impression of a sauropod dinosaur(L) on the Isle of Skye. See Centre Press stroy CPDINO; A “remarkable” collection of rare dinosaur tracks is helping scientists shed new light on some of the biggest animals ever to live on land.
Tracks made by a sauropod dinosaur 170 million years ago on the Isle of Skye.
