Race to preserve dinosaur prints

SKYE, Scotland -- Archaeologists are in a race to preserve a set of rare dinosaur fossils found on a beach on a Scottish isle.

The footprints, measuring up to 20 inches (50cm) in length, were recently found on a beach near the Staffin Slipway on the east coast of Skye.

The exact species that created the 16 prints are not yet known but they are thought to come from a large meat-eating dinosaur.

Although they have been on the beach for about 165 million years, the prints are now in danger of being eroded away.

Excavation work began on Tuesday to preserve what experts are describing as some of the oldest and largest dinosaur footprints found in Scotland.

The prints' importance is that they are the first to be found still held in the rocks in which they were formed.

Other fossils found on Skye have come from loose boulders on beaches, making it difficult to identify the precise level in the ground in which they were originally made.

Rubber moulds

Dr. Neil Clark, who is leading the team, said the preservation work was essential as the footprints were being eroded by the tide and would eventually disappear.

He told the Press Association: "Dinosaur remains are very rare in Scotland and every attempt should be made to protect them.

"Sadly, these footprints were found on a beach that is battered by winter storms.

"It is important that we have a permanent record of these footprints in our museums before tidal erosion destroys them or sand engulfs them."

The team of fossil experts from University of Glasgow's Hunterian Museum will uncover the Jurassic Period footprints and make rubber moulds and casts.

The casts will be kept at the island's Staffin museum, and copies will be sent to the Hunterian Museum and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The footprints will remain where they are so that visitors and residents on Skye may see them in the rock on which they formed.

Cathie Booth, who found the prints while out walking, said: "I wasn't sure that what I had was a dinosaur footprint, and was delighted to have it confirmed by Dr Clark."

Scotland boasts some of the rarest and most scientifically important fossils in the world, spanning at least 800 million years of Earth's history.