The Beararaig Icthyosaur (a sea reptile)

Reported fossil finds from our locality date back to the 1880s when geologists were actively looking for such evidence here. There is a prolific Beararaig ammonite whose scientific name is Ludwigia Murchisonea. "Murchison" was a Scottish geologist. One of the first spectacular fossil finds from the north end of Skye happened in 1966. I vaguely remember reading about it since I was nine years old at the time. The fossil of an Icthysaur was found embedded in the rock at Beararaig. The creature was a marine reptile similar to a dolphin, and the man who found the fossil was 'Norrie' Gillies from Raasay, who was then operator of the hydro power station at Storr Lochs. The fossil was minus the remains of its head but most of its bodily fossil was intact. Today this fossil can be seen in the Environmental Centre in Broadford, Skye.

The Staffin Stegosaurus

In places which have undergone substantial volcanic activity - as Skye indeed has - it would be unusual to find a fully articulated dinosaur skeleton. In mountainous places where previously there were tidal mud flats, it is ambitious to hope to find anything more than "bits of dinosaur fossils" or footprints. These creatures possibly died inland and were washed into the sea where the abundance of scavenging animals would break up and consume carcasses fairly quickly - especially in a warm tropical sea. But while our discoveries might be relatively small in size, we have proven that in Staffin our discoveries can be huge in terms of their implications for palaeontology. Such an instance happened in 1997 at Beararaig with a find that was strictly of the dinosaur "family". The fossilised forearm (technically the "radius and ulna bone") of what transpired to have been a stegosaurus became extremely important. Until its discovery, the "oldest" stegosaurus ever to have been found in North America was 165 million years old. But at 170 million years of age, the Beararaig stegosaurus has since been recorded as the oldest ever discovered in the world - by a margin of five million years.

6 or 7 fossils have been found and they have all been singular finds. Bearraraig is certainly one of the most interesting Jurassic exposures in the UK.

The Cetiosaurus

In 1993, a cetiosaurus was discovered in Staffin.

The Hardrosaur

This was another giant, found at Rudh' nam Bràithrean, near Bhaltos.

Coelophysis

Diminutive Dinosaurs. Not all dinosaurs were on a grand scale. In 1995, we found trace of a coelophysis - a meat eating dinosaur who was really no bigger than a dog.