Remains of Jurassic dinosaur that roamed 166 million years ago found on Scottish island

A fossil extracted from a cliff base in Skye has been formally identified as a Jurassic dinosaur that lived around 166 million years ago.

First spotted in 1973, the fossil was finally removed from the base of a cliff near Elgol in an “extremely challenging” operation led by Dr Elsa Panciroli, from National Museums Scotland, and which involved an international team of experts.

Now, following analysis, it can be confirmed as Scotland’s earliest recorded dinosaur find.

While the Elgol dinosaur is preserved only in fragments compared to some specimens found elsewhere, researchers have identified part of the spine, ribs and a hip bone, making it the most complete dinosaur skeleton found to date in Scotland.

Dr Panciroli, NERC independent research fellow at National Museums Scotland, said: “This was a really challenging extraction. In fact we’d previously felt it was too difficult to collect the fossil, but I thought it was really important to study it. I was able to persuade the team to give it a try.

“It took a lot of hard work from a lot of people, but we did it. Finally we can confirm and publish Scotland’s first recorded and most complete dinosaur, and that makes it all worthwhile.”

Dr Elsa Panciroli with the Elgol dinosaur fossil. PIC: Neil Hanna. | Neil Hanna

Close study of these bones has led researchers to believe the Elgol find is an ornithopod dinosaur, which includes notable later dinosaurs such as Iguanodon, Parasaurolophus and Edmontosaurus.

Analysis of the bone structure indicates the animal, which would have been roughly the size of a pony, was at least eight years old.

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The excavation was made possible with the support of a specialist team from Research Casting International, based in Canada. A local crew from Elgol’s Bella Jane Boat Trips piloted the rigid inflatable boat and dingy to the shore at the foot of the cliff, where the specimen was loaded and taken back to port.

Skye has revealed a number of Jurassic finds, with the island landscape once part of the supercontinent Pangea, defined by a sub-tropical landscape, shallow seas, lagoon and dark, dense forests.

Dr Stig Walsh, from National Museums Scotland, said: “This is a wonderful addition to the rapidly growing set of Jurassic finds from the Isle of Skye, which are enabling us to learn more and more about the rich eco-system of the time.”

Professor Susie Maidment, from the Natural History Museum and the University of Birmingham, said the Elgol dinosaur had been a “challenge to collect” and “perhaps an even bigger challenge to identify”.

She said: “Some aspects of the bones indicate that the specimen may be an ornithopod, a group of plant-eating dinosaurs that are best known from the Cretaceous [period]. This specimen, however, would already have been a fossil by the time that the better-known ornithopods like Iguanodon and Hypsilophodon were walking the Earth.

“Recent research on the fossils of Elgol has revealed a diverse eco-system of extraordinarily preserved Middle Jurassic animals, and I’m sure there are more exciting discoveries to come.”

The new description of the Elgol dinosaur is published in the Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (EESTRSE).

Professor Rob Ellam, editor of the journal, said: “It is a privilege to be able to publish in EESTRSE a world-class study led from Scotland, which illustrates why the Scottish palaeontological community is held in such high esteem.”