Elgin Museum is displaying the bones of a 375 million-year-old predator, discovered only three miles away, for the first time.
Scotland’s oldest independent museum reopens this weekend after being deprived of visitors for what seems like forever.
In 1826, the museum’s first curator John Martin, found the site of the 5ft-long tetrapod Elginerpeton in a crumbling sandstone cliff at Scaat Craig, near Longmorn.
The fossils were originally thought to be fish remains and their significance in the evolution of fins to feet only became clear in the 1990s.
How important is this new temporary exhibition?
The museum has borrowed the fossils from National Museums Scotland, Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the British Geological Survey.
This is part of the At the Water’s Edge exhibition to mark the Year of Coast and Water.
This exhibition was made possible after the museum was awarded £23,270 from the Weston Loan Programme.
‘Phenomenal addition’
The museum’s Dr Alison Wright said: “It’s very exciting to have all the bones together for the first time in 375 million years.
“Although Elginerpeton was found in Longmorn, we don’t actually have any of the fossils ourselves.
“The site was discovered in the late 1820s, and all these interested people visited the site and collected stuff but they thought these bones and scales were from fish.
She added: “So everything got dispersed and some material will have been lost.
“Others ended up in museums and private collections.
“It wasn’t until the 1990s that a tetrapod expert was reviewing some of these fish bones, who had been studying tetrapods in Greenland, and he said, ‘Wait a minute – these aren’t fish.
“Suddenly these rather uninspiring, dusty collections that had been lying in drawers became really interesting.
“It is really exciting and these fossils have never been seen in public.”
Joy of welcoming visitors back to Elgin Museum
Moray Society vice-president Claire Herbert said the group is delighted to be welcoming visitors back to Elgin Museum.
Miss Herbert told the P&J: “We are excited to be open for the first time in a long time.
“We have a lot on offer and have done everything to make the space safe.
“If we could have opened sooner we would have, but it’s been quite a challenge to get everything in place.
“We have other exhibitions as well like the display about Elgin music promoter Albert Bonici, who brought The Beatles to the area.”
Meanwhile, volunteers are looking to raise around £1.5 million to upgrade, enhance and carry out necessary work to the museum.
Entrance is free and visitors should pre-book slots and find out more information about Covid measures via its new online booking system.
Opening times are 11am-3pm, Saturdays and Sundays.