Scientists have confirmed that a dinosaur fossil found in 1973 on the island of Skye belongs to an ornithopod of 166 million years, the most complete discovered in Scotland, after its extraction in 2018 and the first results of its analysis presented this Thursday.
The fossil was located in a cliff near Elgol, in the south of the island, but its difficult access made its extraction be considered impossible, until a team led by the paleontologist Elsa Panciroli recovered it with the support of the local boat company Bella Jane Boat Trips.
The research, published in Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, highlights that it is the most complete dinosaur fossil recovered in Scotland to date.
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It has been confirmed that the fossil, which includes parts of the spine, ribs and hip bones, belonged to an ornitopod, a group of herbivorous dinosaurs that includes species such as the iguanodon.
The researchers believe that the animal was about 8 years old when dying and dates from the average Jurassic period.
“This was a really challenging extraction. In fact, we had previously considered that it would be too difficult to collect the fossil, but I thought it was important to study it. I was able to persuade the team to try. He took a lot of work of many people, but we did it, ”said Dr. Panciroli, an independent researcher of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), based in the National Museums of Scotland.
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Other recent findings include primitive mammalian fossils and the largest registered Jurassic Pterosour
With EFE information
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