Scotland's Earliest Dinosaur Fossil Unearthed After 50 Years

The Elgol dinosaur, first discovered in 1973 on the Isle of Skye, has been extracted and identified as Scotland's most complete dinosaur fossil.

The fossil, known as the Elgol dinosaur, was discovered near Elgol on the Isle of Skye in 1973 but remained embedded in a cliff until its recent extraction.
A team led by Dr. Elsa Panciroli successfully retrieved the fossil in 2018 after initial assessments deemed the task too difficult.
The dinosaur, dating back 166 million years to the Middle Jurassic period, has been identified as an ornithopod and is one of the earliest known body fossils of this group.
The fossil includes fragments of the spine, ribs, and hip bone, making it the most complete dinosaur skeleton found in Scotland to date.
The discovery adds to a growing collection of Jurassic-era finds from Skye, shedding light on the region's rich prehistoric ecosystem.