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2023
Journal article
New postcranial remains from the Lealt Shale Formation of the Isle of Skye, Scotland, showcase hidden pterosaur diversity in the Middle Jurassic
The Early to Middle Jurassic transition was significant in pterosaur evolution, during which these volant reptiles exploded in diversity alongside dinosaurs and other animals. It has long been thought, however, that pterosaurs did not develop large wingspans until after the Jurassic, a notion challenged by the recent discovery of in...Jagielska, Natalia ; Challands, Thomas J ; O'Sullivan, Michael ; Ross, Dugald A ; Fraser, Nicholas C …
Palaeontology and Geobiology, Palaeoenvironments, and Palaeogeography
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2022
Journal article
A skeleton from the Middle Jurassic of Scotland illuminates an earlier origin of large pterosaurs
Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve flight1,2 and include the largest flying animals in Earth history.3,4 While some of the last-surviving species were the size of airplanes, pterosaurs were long thought to be restricted to small body sizes (wingspans ca. <1.8–1.6 m) from their Triassic origins through the Jurassic,...Jagielska, Natalia ; O’Sullivan, Michael ; Funston, Gregory F ; Butler, Ian B ; Challands, Thomas J …
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2020
Journal article
First dinosaur from the Isle of Eigg (Valtos Sandstone Formation, Middle Jurassic), Scotland
Dinosaur body fossil material is rare in Scotland, previously known almost exclusively from the Great Estuarine Group on the Isle of Skye. We report the first unequivocal dinosaur fossil from the Isle of Eigg, belonging to a Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) taxon of uncertain affinity. The limb bone NMS G.2020.10.1 is...Panciroli, Elsa ; Funston, Gregory F ; Holwerda, Femke ; Maidment, Susannah C R ; Foffa, Davide …
Theropoda, histology, Bathonian , Sauropoda, Great Estuarine Group, and Thyreophora
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Journal article
Novel track morphotypes from new tracksites indicate increased Middle Jurassic dinosaur diversity on the Isle of Skye, Scotland
Dinosaur fossils from the Middle Jurassic are rare globally, but the Isle of Skye (Scotland, UK) preserves a varied dinosaur record of abundant trace fossils and rare body fossils from this time. Here we describe two new tracksites from Rubha nam Brathairean (Brothers’ Point) near where the first dinosaur footprint...dePolo, Paige E ; Brusatte, Stephen L ; Challands, Thomas J ; Foffa, Davide ; Wilkinson, Mark …
Theropoda, Jurassic period, Shale, Limestone, Sediment, Hip, Dinosaurs, and Toes
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2015
Journal article
Sauropod dinosaur trackways in a Middle Jurassic lagoon on the Isle of Skye, Scotland
The Middle Jurassic was a dynamic interval in dinosaur evolution, but the dinosaur fossil record from this time is extremely poor throughout the world. The Isle of Skye (Scotland) preserves marginal marine and terrestrial deposits of Middle Jurassic age, which have yielded sparse bones, teeth, footprints and small segments of...Brusatte, Stephen L ; Challands, Thomas James ; Ross, Dugald A ; Young, Mark T ; Wilkinson, Mark
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2015
Journal article
Ichthyosaurs from the Jurassic of Skye, Scotland
Fossils of Mesozoic vertebrates are rare in Scotland, particularly specimens of marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs. We describe a suite of ichthyosaur fossils from the Early to Middle Jurassic of Skye, which to our knowledge are the first ichthyosaurs from Scotland to be described and figured in detail....Brusatte, Stephen L ; Young, Mark T ; Challands, Thomas James ; Clark, Neil D L ; Fischer, Valentin …