Fossil reveals new species of ancient Jurassic reptile which roamed UK
The fossil of a new Jurassic reptile species, which was understood to be an old horse for lizards and snakes on Skye Island, was discovered.
An international investigator team, which contains national museums Scotland (NMS), revealed an unknown species that lived about 167 million years ago.
The name Gaelic, which means “Elgol’s Fake Snake”, was given Breugnathair Elgolensis – referring to the South Skye area where he was discovered.
He had repeated teeth like a python, like a snake -like jaws and a lizard, such as a python.
Fossil is one of the oldest and most complete Jurassic lizards known by science and is now part of NMS’s national collection.
Anatomy shows that it may be one of the parviaptorides – the premises of all lizards and snakes.
Dr. Roger Benson, a paleontology curator at the American Museum of Natural History, said: “Snakes are remarkable animals that improve their longing bodies from lizard -like ancestors.
“Breugnathair has a snake -like feature of teeth and jaws, but it is surprisingly primitive in other ways.
“This may tell us that his ancestors of snakes are very different from what we expect, or instead of evidence of evidence of the evolution of predatory habits in a primitive, extinct group.”
In 2016, Fossil was discovered by the NMS curator Dr Stig Walsh near Elgol and has undergone detailed scans since then.
Paleontologists have made a series of important discoveries in SKYE in recent years.
Dr Walsh said: “Skye Island is one of the most important middle Jurassic sites in the world.
“Breugnathair Elgolensis is a remarkable contribution to the fossil recording and helps to rewrite our understanding of the evolution of snakes and lizards.
“We are really happy to add to other surprising findings discovered in Scotland’s Jurassic Isle in the national collection.”
Professor Susan Evans from UCL, who chaired the study, said: “Jurassic fossil deposits on Skye Island, the world is important for us to understand the early evolution of many living groups, including lizards that have started their diversification during this time.”
