Jurassic fossil is most complete dinosaur ever found in Scotland
Imagine finding treasure and then having to wait more than 50 years to get your hands on it.Researchers have shared the details of a dino-discovery recovered from a cliff on the Isle of Skye, off the north west coast of Scotland.Nicknamed the Elgol dinosaur after the area of Skye where it was found, the fossil was first discovered in 1973.Palaeontologists have now retrieved the fossil and had a chance to study it.They say it is the most complete dinosaur skeleton ever found in Scotland.
Getting the fossil out of the rocks and into the lab was a big challenge.Its cliff face location was thought to be too difficult to access. Decades after it was first discovered, palaeontologist Dr Elsa Panciroli was finally able to get to the site.She retrieved the fossil with help from a special team from Canada and a local tour boat company.Dr Panciroli said: "This was a really challenging extraction. In fact we'd previously felt was too difficult... 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."
After the fossil was removed from the cliff, it was studied in a lab.There, experts were able to identify the dinosaur's spine, ribs and hip bones. They discovered that the fossil is one of the earliest known examples of an ornithopod, a group of dinosaurs that includes the Iguanodon.Analysis of the bone structure revealed that the dinosaur would have been about the same size as a pony. Researchers believe it was eight years old when it died.The fossil dates from the Middle Jurassic period, making it around 166 million years old.
Professor Susie Maidment from the Natural History Museum said, "Recent research on the fossils of Elgol has revealed a diverse ecosystem of extraordinarily preserved Middle Jurassic animals, and I'm sure there are more exciting discoveries to come."Dr Stig Walsh, from National Museums Scotland, called the fossil a "wonderful addition" to their collection of Jurassic finds from Skye.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
5 hours ago
- Metro
Earth may be experiencing a sixth mass extinction event
Hiyah Zaidi Published June 6, 2025 10:52am Updated June 6, 2025 10:52am Link is copied Comments There is no doubt that humans are changing the Earth. From global warming, to mass migration and many animal species being wiped out altogether, the way the world was is no more. But is all this change actually causing a mass extinction event? (Picture: Getty) It is no surprise that humans will one day be extinct, as nothing lasts forever. It's suggested that around 98% of all the organisms that have ever existed on our planet are now extinct. However, when an organism goes extinct, it is usually replaced by another that has a similar role (Picture: Getty) According to the Natural History Museum, Earth's 'normal' extinction rate is often thought to be somewhere between 0.1 and 1 species per 10,000 species per 100 years, which is known as the background rate of extinction. But at least five times in the last 500 million years there has been something called a mass extinction event (Picture: Getty) A mass extinction event is when species disappear much faster than they are replaced. This is usually defined as around 75% of the world's species being lost in a short period of geological time of less than 2.8 million years. Dr Katie Collins, Curator of Benthic Molluscs at the National History Museum, says: 'It's difficult to identify when a mass extinction may have started and ended. However, there are five big events that we know of, where extinction was much higher than normal background rate, and these are often used to decide whether we are going through a sixth one now.' Past extinction events were caused by extreme temperature changes, sea levels changing or one off events like volcanic eruptions or asteroids hitting the Earth (Picture: Getty) One study, published in the journal PNAS, says yes. It suggests that groups of related species are disappearing at a rate of 35% times higher than the expected rate. And there is no guarantee that humans would survive the extinction event. Co-author Dr Gerardo Ceballos suggests that the whole biosphere of the Earth may change, maybe even into a state where it may be impossible for humanity to endure unless dramatic action is taken. He said: 'Biodiversity will recover but the winners [are] very difficult to predict. Many of the losers in these past mass extinctions were incredibly successful groups' (Picture: Getty) It is undeniable that we are seeing some drastic changes to our planet. Extreme weather such as flooding, wildfires and drought have become more frequent, with data revealing that both 2023 and 2024 became the hottest year on record. But as migration changes, humans are also introducing invasive species that are threatening ecosystems all over the world. Although extinction naturally occurs over hundreds and thousands of years, humans are speeding up this process, which researchers have dubbed as the Holocene extinction (Picture: Getty) However, not all researchers agree. A paper published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution questions if we are really heading towards a mass extinction, as they say that less than 0.1% of Earth's known species have gone extinct in the last 500 years, and that the numbers alone do not support a mass extinction. They said: 'Claiming a sixth mass extinction requires a quantitative criterion, and no plausible scenarios for 75% species loss have been proposed.' They added: 'Current projections of future extinction seem more consistent with ~12–40% species loss, which would be catastrophic but far from the 75% criterion used to argue for a sixth mass extinction' (Picture: Getty)
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
The big reason why we love Dippy the Dinosaur so much
Dippy – a complete cast of a diplodocus skeleton – is Britain's most famous dinosaur. It has resided at the Natural History Museum in London since 1905 and is now on show in Coventry where it is 'dinosaur-in-residence' at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum. Dippy, the star attraction in the huge entrance hall of the Natural History Museum from 1979 to 2018, i s now on tour around the UK, with Coventry as its latest stop. It had previously been shown in Dorchester, Birmingham, Belfast, Glasgow, Newcastle, Cardiff, Rochdale, Norwich and London. So what is it that makes Dippy so popular? I got a sense of the dino's appeal in August 2021 when I gave a lecture under the Dippy skeleton in Norwich Cathedral. The lecture was about dinosaur feathers and colours. It highlighted new research that identified traces of pigment in the fossilised feathers of birds and dinosaurs. I wanted to highlight the enormous advances in the ways we can study dinosaurs that had taken place in just a century. Before arriving, I thought that Dippy would fill the cathedral – after all the skeleton is 26 metres long and it had filled the length of the gallery at the Natural History Museum. However, Dippy was dwarfed by the gothic cathedral's scale. In fact, the building is so large that five Dippys could line up, nose to tail, from the great west door to the high altar at the east end. This sense of awe is one of the key reasons to study palaeontology – to understand how such extraordinary animals ever existed. I asked the Norwich cathedral canon why they had agreed to host the dinosaur, and he gave three answers. First, the dinosaur would attract lots of visitors. Second, Dippy is from the Jurassic period, as are the rocks used to construct the cathedral. Finally, for visitors it shared with the cathedral a sense of awe because of its huge size. Far from being diminished by its temporary home, visitors still walked around and under Dippy sensing its grandeur. Dippy arrived in London in 1905 as part of a campaign for public education by the Scottish-American millionaire Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919). At the time, there was a debate in academic circles about the function of museums and how far professionals should go in seeking to educate the public. There was considerable reticence about going too far. Many professors felt that showing dinosaurs to the public would be unprofessional in instances where they moved from description of facts into the realm of speculation. They also did not want to risk ridicule by conveying unsupported information about the appearance and lifestyle of the great beasts. Finally, many professors simply did not see such populism as any part of their jobs. But, at that time, the American Museum of Natural History was well established in New York and its new president, Henry Fairfield Osborn (1857-1935) was distinctly a populist. He sponsored the palaeo artist Charles Knight (1874-1953), whose vivid colour paintings of dinosaurs were the glory of the museum and influential worldwide. Osborn was as hated by palaeontology professors as he was feted by the public. Carnegie pumped his steel dollars into many philanthropic works in his native Scotland and all over America, including the Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. When he heard that a new and complete skeleton of a diplodocus had been dug up in Wyoming, he bought it and brought it to his new museum. It was named as a new species, Diplodocus carnegiei. On a visit to Carnegie's Scottish residence, Skibo Castle, King Edward VII saw a sketch of the bones and Carnegie agreed to donate a complete cast of the skeleton to Britain's Natural History Museum. The skeleton was copied by first making rubber moulds of each bone in several parts, then filling the moulds with plaster to make casts and colouring the bones to make them look real. The 292 pieces were shipped to London in 36 crates and opened to the public in May 1905. Carnegie's original Dippy skeleton only went on show in Pittsburgh in 1907, after the new museum building had been constructed. Carnegie had got the royal bug and donated further complete Dippy casts to the great natural history museums in Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Bologna, St Petersburg, Madrid, Munich, Mexico City and La Plata in Argentina. Each of these nations, except France, had a king or tsar at the time. The skeletons went on show in all these locations, except Munich, and Dippy has been seen by many millions of people in the past 120 years. Dippy's appeal Dippy's appeal is manifold. It's huge – we like our dinosaurs big. It has been seen up close by more people around the world than any other dinosaur. It also opens the world of science to many people. Evolution, deep time, climate change, origins, extinction and biodiversity are all big themes that link biology, geology, physics, chemistry and mathematics. Also, since 1905, palaeontology has moved from being a largely speculative subject to the realms of testable science. Calculations of jaw functions and limb movements of dinosaurs can be tested and challenged. Hypotheses about physiology, reproduction, growth and colour can be based on evidence from microscopic study of bones and exceptionally preserved tissues, and these analyses can be repeated and refuted. Dippy has witnessed over a century of rapid change and its appeal is sure to continue for the next.
STV News
3 days ago
- STV News
Exhibition of prehistoric Giants to make UK debut
An exhibition of giant prehistoric animals will make its UK debut this year. Giants, developed by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and toured by Nomad Exhibitions, will open at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery on August 2. It will then move to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh in January 2026. The exhibition focuses on creatures such as the woolly mammoth, which roamed the Earth after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Giants spans a period of 66 million years to the present day, and highlights the need to protect existing giant species such as elephants and whales. It features life-sized 3D models and nearly complete skeletons, including giant shark Otodus megalodon; the Mammuthus primigenius or woolly mammoth, which weighed between six and eight tonnes; and Gigantopithecus blacki, an Asian primate the size of three orangutans. Visitors of all ages are encouraged to step into the shoes of palaeontologists and biologists, using interactive resources and engaging with the scientific processes behind fossil discovery and reconstruction. PA Media A life-sized 3D model of a megalodon features in the exhibition (National Museums Scotland/PA). Immersive projections recreate the natural habitats of previous giant species, providing context to their existence and extinction. The exhibition also warns of the threat of extinction posed to elephants, rhinoceroses and whales and the 'urgent need' to protect endangered species. The announcement coincides with World Environment Day on Thursday, which this year is focused on ending plastic pollution. Zak Mensah and Sara Wajid, co-chief executives of Birmingham Museums Trust, said: 'We are delighted to welcome the Giants exhibition to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. 'This inspiring installation not only captures the imagination with its monumental scale but also delivers a vital message about sustainability and our shared responsibility to protect the planet. 'Birmingham Museums is committed to using storytelling to engage communities with the challenges of our time and Giants does exactly that in a powerful and accessible way.' Dr Nick Fraser, keeper of Natural Sciences at National Museums Scotland, said: 'We're really looking forward to bringing Giants to Scotland next year. 'Popular attention on prehistoric life tends to focus either on dinosaurs or on our own earliest human ancestors, which leaves a relatively neglected gap of around 60 million years of natural history. 'Giants is a striking invitation to us all to think about that period, to see how nature adapts over time, and also to reflect on the ways in which current human activity is denying that time to today's endangered giants.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
