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A fossil first discovered over 50 years ago has lastly been key out as the remains of a pony - sized dinosaur that live on about 166 million years ago .
The dodo was spotted at the base of a cliff on the Isle of Skye in Scotland in 1973 , but it was not collected by paleontologists for another 45 class due to its slick location .
Researchers believe the dinosaur pulled from the Isle of Skye cliff may have been an ornithopodan — a group of herbivorous dinosaurs.
Now , according to a paper published March 6 in the journalEarth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , this fossil — which includes sherd of a spine , rib , and hip bone — may be the cadaver of a dinosaur that lived during the Jurassic Period ( 201.3 and 145.0 million years ago ) .
This fossil , nicknamed the " Elgol dinosaur " after the settlement near where it was find , is now considered the most complete dinosaur fossil ever discovered in Scotland , as well as being the earliest ever unearthed there .
Located off the northwestern coast of Scotland , the Isle of Skye is the location of several dinosaur dodo and footprint from the Middle Jurassic time period , which is ill representedin the global fossil book .
Elsa Panciroli with the Elgol dinosaur fossil. This dinosaur is thought to have lived around 166 million years ago.
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" This is a wondrous addition to the rapidly growing set of Jurassic finds from the Isle of Skye which are enable us to see more and more about the fat ecosystem of the meter , " study co - authorStig Walsh , a senior curator of vertebrate palaeobiology at National Museums Scotland , said in a statement .
The newly identified dinosaur may have been about the size of a pony , and was at least eight eld quondam when it died , according to the researchers .
The dodo was first recorded by paleontologists during field trips between 1971 and 1982 , with a 1973 notebook entry mentioning " castanets of a dinosaur " in a drop with a small sketch . The original discoverer didn’trealize its significance , and due to its ill at ease location , it was super unmanageable to take away from the ground .
Researchers rediscovered the disconnected fossil in 2015 , and itwas eventually unearth and transport from its drop location in 2018 .
" This was a really thought-provoking origin , in fact we ’d antecedently find was too unmanageable to collect the fossil , but I thought it was really crucial to study it , " subject lead authorElsa Panciroli , a NERC Independent Research Fellow at National Museums Scotland , said in the statement .
" I was able to carry the team to give it a endeavor . It took a lot of difficult work from a lot of mass , but we did it : finally we can confirm and publish Scotland ’s first recorded and most complete dinosaur , and that make it all worthwhile . "
Paleontologists then studied the fossil using a range of proficiency , including micro - CT scanning , which is a non - destructive mental imagery proficiency that uses X - rays to make highly detailed 3D images of little object at a microscopic scale .
Theshape and microstructure of the bone , and the fact they were found within theKilmaluag Formation — a geologic organisation date to the Middle Jurassic — indicated that the dodo may be the corpse of a cerapodan or ornithopod dinosaur .
Cerapodan dinosaur are a major grouping of ornithischian ( bird - hipped ) dinosaur , which have a pelvic structure resemble that of modern birds . Ornithopods are one herbivorous wedge - group of cerapodans that lived during the Jurassic andCretaceous periods , and had beaked sassing for cropping vegetation . One of the most well - bang groups of ornithopod wereIguanodons , which were one of the first dinosaurs ever named .
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If this Modern dinosaur is indeed ornithopodan , it may be among the earliest ornithischian dodo , and perhaps the oldest ornithopodan physical structure fossil in the world .
" Some view of the bones indicate that the specimen may be an ornithopod , a group of plant - eating dinosaur that are best known from the Cretaceous , " study Centennial State - authorSusie Maidment , a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London , said in the statement .
" This specimen , however , would already have been a fogy by the metre that the better - known ornithopods like Iguanodon and Hypsilophodon were walk the Earth , " she said . " Recent research on the fossils of Elgol has revealed a diverse ecosystem of inordinately preserved Middle Jurassic animals , and I ’m sure there are more exciting find to come . "
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