170 million-year-old dinosaur footprints discovered in Scotland

PanARMENIAN.Net - New dinosaur footprints believed to be around 170 million years old have been discovered on the Scottish Island of the Isle of Skye, The Independent reports.

Made by the "older cousins" of Tyrannosaurus rex, called theropods, they were found in a muddy lagoon off the north-east coast of the Isle.

The creatures stood up to two-metres tall and are believed to have been a similar size to the long-necked sauropods.

"The more we look on the Isle of Skye, the more dinosaur footprints we find," said Dr Steve Brusatte, from the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, who led the field team which made the discovery.

"This new site records two different types of dinosaurs - long-necked cousins of Brontosaurus and sharp-toothed cousins of Tyrannosaurus rex - hanging around a shallow lagoon, back when Scotland was much warmer and dinosaurs were beginning their march to global dominance."

They are the second set of dinosaur footprints found on Skye, the first being discovered in 2015. However, the latest discoveries were made in older rocks.

The find is considered to be globally important as it is rare evidence of the Middle Jurassic period, from which few fossil sites have been found around the world.

Researchers measured, photographed and analysed about 50 footprints in a tidal area at Rubha nam Brathairean, a dramatic headland on Skye's Trotternish peninsula also known as Brother's Point.

The largest, left by a sauropod, was 70cm across, while the largest theropod track was around 50cm across.