The first and most complete dinosaur skeleton from the Middle Jurassic of Scotland
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1.9 MB
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Adobe PDF
Checksum (CRC64NVME)
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Resource type
Journal article
Date published
March 6, 2025
Abstract
The fossil record of dinosaurs in Scotland mostly comprises isolated highly fragmentary bones from the Great Estuarine Group in the Inner Hebrides (Bajocian–Bathonian). Here we report the first definite dinosaur body fossil ever found in Scotland (historically), having been discovered in 1973, but not collected until 45 years later. It is the first and most complete partial dinosaur skeleton currently known from Scotland. NMS G.2023.19.1 was recovered from a challenging foreshore location in the Isle of Skye, and transported to harbour in a semi-rigid inflatable boat towed by a motor boat. After manual preparation, micro-CT scanning was carried out, but this did not aid in identification. Among many unidentifiable elements, a neural arch, two ribs and part of the ilium are described herein, and their features indicate that this was a cerapodan or ornithopod dinosaur. Histological thin sections of one of the ribs support this identification, indicating an individual at least eight years of age, growing slowly at the time of death. If ornithopodan, as our data suggest, it could represent the world's oldest body fossil of this clade.
Journal title
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
ISSN
1755-6910
eISSN
1755-6929
Date accepted
November 18, 2024
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