Dog-sized Middle Jurassic dinosaur hints at earlier herbivore diversification in Scotland
A 166-million-year-old, dog-sized, plant-eating dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic was unearthed on Scotland’s Isle of Skye. Although the skeleton was long spotted, difficult access and protected coastline kept it from extraction until now. The fragmentary remains suggest an early ornithischian (possibly an early ornithopod or ceratodan) and show it was at least eight years old when it died, based on growth rings. This could push back the appearance of iguanodontians and shed light on small herbivores in Jurassic ecosystems; researchers aim to find more fossils in the Kilmaluag Formation to better understand dinosaur evolution in this period.