Novel track morphotypes from new tracksites indicate increased Middle Jurassic dinosaur diversity on the Isle of Skye, Scotland
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Novel_track_morphotypes_from_new_tracksites.pdf
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9.09 MB
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Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
dePolo, Paige E
Brusatte, Stephen L
Challands, Thomas J
Foffa, Davide
Wilkinson, Mark
Clark, Neil D L
Hoad, Jon
da Costa Pereira, Paulo Victor Luiz Gomes
Ross, Dugald A
Wade, Thomas J
Abstract
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 in Scotland was found in the 1980s. These sites were formed in subaerially exposed mudstones of the Lealt Shale Formation of the Great Estuarine Group and record a dynamic, subtropical, coastal margin. These tracksites preserve a wide variety of dinosaur track types, including a novel morphotype for Skye: Deltapodus which has a probable stegosaur trackmaker. Additionally, a wide variety of tridactyl tracks shows evidence of multiple theropods of different sizes and possibly hints at the presence of large-bodied ornithopods. Overall, the new tracksites show the dinosaur fauna of Skye is more diverse than previously recognized and give insight into the early evolution of major dinosaur groups whose Middle Jurassic body fossil records are currently sparse.
Journal title
PLOS One
Volume
15
Issue
3
Article number
e0229640
Publisher
PLOS
Place of publication
San Francisco, USA
Date accepted
February 11, 2020
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Rights statement
In Copyright