The new site features over 130 footprints and trackways, some extending up to 12 meters in length.
Jurassic-era dinosaurs once roamed ancient subtropical lagoons on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, leaving behind up to 131 fossilized footprints at a newly identified site, according to a study published on April 2, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Tone Blakesley of the University of Edinburgh and colleagues.
These well-preserved tracks, embedded in the rippled rock formations of the island, offer valuable insights into dinosaur behavior and distribution during the Middle Jurassic period, around 167 million years ago, a critical stage in their evolutionary history.
Footprint Details and Possible Trackmakers
The footprints range from 25-60cm long and come in two varieties: three-toed tracks left by bipedal, carnivorous theropods and rounder ‘tyre-size’ tracks made by quadrupedal, long-necked sauropods. Based on comparisons with previous fossil finds, the most likely trackmakers are identified as large theropods similar to Megalosaurus and early-branching members of the neosauropod group similar to Cetiosaurus, both of which are known from skeletal remains in the UK.
Many of these footprints occur together in sequential steps. The longest of these trackways is over 12 meters, among the longest examples known from the Isle of Skye. The spacing and orientation of these trackways represent slow walking gaits with no consistent direction or interaction with each other, most likely left by dinosaurs casually milling about at slightly different times.
Absences and Environmental Clues
This site supports previous evidence that Jurassic sauropods frequented Scottish lagoons. However, this site contains a higher proportion of theropod tracks than similar localities, possibly indicating some environmental difference between these ancient lagoons. This site also lacks footprints from other dinosaurs such as stegosaurs or ornithopods but whether these animals were truly absent in this environment or simply didn’t leave footprints at this site remains unclear.
An accompanying feature documentary chronicles the story behind the 131 dinosaur footprints found at Prince Charles’s Point on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, and research efforts led by Edinburgh Masters graduate Tone Blakesley. Credit: Tone Blakesley
The authors add: “The footprints at Prince Charles’s Point provide fascinating insight into the behaviors and environmental distributions of meat-eating theropods and plant-eating, long-necked sauropods during an important time in their evolution. On Skye, these dinosaurs clearly preferred shallowly submerged lagoonal environments over subaerially exposed mudflats. Intriguingly, the site also has some historical significance, as a place on Skye where Bonnie Prince Charlie landed and hid during his flight across Scotland following the Battle of Culloden.”
Reference: “A new Middle Jurassic lagoon margin assemblage of theropod and sauropod dinosaur trackways from the Isle of Skye, Scotland” by Tone Blakesley, Paige E. dePolo, Thomas J. Wade, Dugald A. Ross and Stephen L. Brusatte, 2 April 2025, PLOS ONE.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319862
The PalAlba team’s work on Skye is supported by the National Geographic Society (GEFNE185-16) and a Philip Leverhulme Prize to Stephen L. Brusatte.
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