Sauropods, theropods, stegosaurs and ornithopods on the Isle of Skye

THEY don’t call it the Dinosaur Isle for nothing. This week’s discoveries are merely the latest in an extraordinary set of finds on Skye which started in 1982 when a single dinosaur footprint – the first in Scotland – was found at Brothers Point, near Staffin. The print belonged to an ornithopod, a small bipedal herbivore that could run very fast. Intriguingly, it is near the spot where the recent sauropod and theropod track discoveries were made, and dates from the middle Jurassic period. Since then fossilised parts of bones from sauropods, theropods and an armoured thyerophoran – a group that includes the stegosaur, pictured – have been found, along with another ornithopod footprint at Staffin Bay. In 2002 a slab of sandstone on a beach showing footprints of an adult theropod and those of ten smaller individuals was uncovered, sparking interest because it suggested dinosaurs cared for their young after their eggs hatched. In 2015 huge sauropod footprints were found on the shore just south of Duntulm Castle, at the north end of Trotternish. Although not as large as the most recent discovery, they suggest that sauropods, a group of enormous, long-necked dinosaurs that includes the brontosaurus and the brachiosaurus, could have been living in large numbers on Skye 170 million years ago.

Although the exact locations of many of Skye’s dinosaur tracks have been kept secret in an attempt to protect them, you could head to Brothers Point where the most recent prints were found. The shore is around three miles south of Staffin and you will have to hike out to the Point. The sauropod tracks found in 2015 are also visible at low tide south of Duntulm Castle. There is also the Staffin Museum at Ellishadder, which offers an insight into the island’s Jurassic history and contains dinosaur fossils and bones.