A fossil that was first discovered over 50 years ago has finally been identified as a dinosaur that lived around 166 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period.
A fossil first discovered over 50 years ago has now been officially identified as the remains of a pony-sized dinosaur that lived approximately 166 million years ago.
Spotted in 1973 at the base of a cliff on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, the fossil remained uncollected for 45 years due to its challenging location. Now, according to a study published on March 6 in Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, this specimen — containing fragments of spine, ribs, and hip bones — has been confirmed to date back to the Jurassic Period (201.3–145 million years ago).
Nicknamed the “Elgol dinosaur” after the nearby village, it is considered the most complete dinosaur fossil ever found in Scotland and also the oldest discovered there.
The Isle of Skye, off Scotland’s northwest coast, is rich in dinosaur fossils and footprints from the Middle Jurassic — a period poorly represented in the global fossil record. “This is a wonderful addition to the rapidly growing set of Jurassic finds from the Isle of Skye, which help us better understand the rich ecosystem of that time,” said Stig Walsh, senior curator of vertebrate paleobiology at National Museums Scotland.
According to researchers, this dinosaur, about the size of a pony, was at least eight years old when it died.
Although first noted in field trips between 1971 and 1982 — with a 1973 notebook entry casually mentioning “bones of a dinosaur” — the significance of the fossil was not recognized, and its difficult location delayed its collection. Rediscovered in 2015, it was finally excavated from the cliff in 2018.
“This was an incredibly challenging extraction. We had previously thought it was too difficult to recover, but I felt it was vital to study it,” said Elsa Panciroli, lead author of the study and a NERC Independent Research Fellow at National Museums Scotland. “It took a lot of hard work from many people, but we succeeded. Finally, we can confirm and share Scotland’s first and most complete dinosaur fossil — and that makes all the effort worthwhile.”
Scientists analyzed the fossil using advanced techniques, including micro-CT scanning, a non-destructive method that creates detailed 3D images at a microscopic level.
The shape and structure of the bones, along with their discovery within the Kilmaluag Formation (dating to the Middle Jurassic), suggest they belonged to a cerapodan or ornithopod dinosaur.
Cerapodans are a major group of bird-hipped dinosaurs (ornithischians), while ornithopods — a subgroup of cerapodans — were herbivores with beaked mouths for eating vegetation. Well-known ornithopods include Iguanodons, among the first dinosaurs ever named.
If confirmed as an ornithopod, this fossil could represent one of the earliest known ornithischians and potentially the oldest ornithopod body fossil discovered worldwide.
“Some features suggest it may be an ornithopod, a group of plant-eating dinosaurs more commonly known from the Cretaceous,” said Susie Maidment, co-author of the study and paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London. “However, this animal would have been a fossil long before famous ornithopods like Iguanodon and Hypsilophodon roamed the Earth. Recent discoveries from Elgol reveal a remarkably diverse Middle Jurassic ecosystem, and I’m sure more exciting finds await.”