A new occurrence of Scottish plesiosaurian remains from the Island of Skye

Abstract

The discovery of plesiosaurian remains in the Lower Callovian (Middle Jurassic) sediments of Skye, Scotland, represents the most northerly occurrence from the Hebrides. Other Hebridean localities from which Jurassic plesiosaurian remains have been recorded include the famous Hugh Miller’s Reptile Bed from the Upper Bajocian to Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) sediments of Eigg, and a more recent discovery from the Liassic (Lower Jurassic) of Raasay ([Martill 1985][1]). Plesiosaurian remains have also been found from the northeast of Scotland at Elgin (Upper Triassic) (Taylor and Cruickshank in press), Brora (Late Callovian to Early Oxfordian, Middle to Upper Jurassic) ([Clark in press][2]), and Eathie (Kimmeridgian, Upper Jurassic) ([Paton 1975][3]). On 2nd July 1992 N.C. was contacted by Dr. S. Rigby to inform him of the discovery (by F.N.) of vertebrate remains on Skye. As the bones were found on a loose boulder on the foreshore near Flodigarry [NG472 708], it is difficult to provide a precise lithostratigraphical position. A comparison between the faunal content (the abundance of bivalves and belemnites) and sedimentological characteristics of the boulder, suggests that it may correlate lithologically within the Belemnite Sands (Lower Callovian) of the Staffin Bay Formation ([Hudson and Morton 1969][4]). Lithostratigraphy The boulder was found close to locality 3, excursion 21 of Bell and Harris (1986) where the succession youngs to the west. The Staffin Bay Formation is well exposed at this locality allowing much detail of the section to be recorded (Fig. 1). The boulder consisted of a 60 cm-thick medium to coarse-grained sandstone containing. . . [1]: #ref-5 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #ref-6 [4]: #ref-4