DOUBLE DECKER DINOS
Scientists discover 170million-year-old footprints of giant sauropods on Skye
DInOSaURS bigger than a double decker bus roamed Skye 170million years ago, according to scientists.
Dozens of footprints belonging to early sauropods – the largest animals ever to walk the planet – have been unearthed in a lagoon at Brothers’ Point on the island’s Trotternish peninsula.
The discovery adds to evidence that the prehistoric beasts were widespread on Skye at a vital time in their evolution.
It also suggests that far from being strict landlubbers as once assumed, they spent long spells in water.
The footprints were up to 15in long and the dinosaurs were identified by their claws.
Dr Steve Brusatte, a geoscientist at Edinburgh University who led the field team, said: “We can tell they were made by sauropods – fairly primitive ones. They would have been among the first species of truly colossal sauropods that lived on Earth.
“They were probably more than 49ft long and weighed more than 10 ton.
“It appears as if these tracks were made in shallow water, so the dinosaurs look like they were probably wading.
“It’s hard to say exactly why these dinosaurs were in the lagoon. Maybe there was abundant food there or maybe it was a safe place to hide from predators.”
Sauropods evolved to reach 164ft and weigh as much as 77 ton – 14 times as heavy as an African elephant.
The latest sauropod footprints are slightly older than ones found at nearby Duntulm three years ago.