Fossils discovered in Antrim turn out to be only dinosaur bones found in Ireland
November 24, 2020 8:18:03 pm
Illustration of the Jurassic thyreophoran Scelidosaurus harrisonii, Jack Mayer Wood, via Wikimedia Commons
In a new study, two bones found on Islandmagee situated on the east coast of County Antrim of Northern Ireland have been confirmed to be of two prehistoric dinosaurs. This is a rare discovery as these are the only dinosaur bones to be found on the island. Also, the fossils are dated back to the Hettangian age of the earliest Jurassic period which dates back to somewhere between 201.3 to 199.3 million years ago.
The study has been published in the journal Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association. Initially, it was speculated that the fossils belonged to just one dinosaur, but further analysis revealed that they were of two different dinosaurs. The first one is a part of a femur (upper leg bone) identified to be of a four-legged herbivore dinosaur Scelidosaurus. The second of the two bones is part of the tibia (lower bone) belonging to a Sarcosaurus-like two-legged carnivore dinosaur.
The conclusion was drawn after a high-resolution 3D digital model of the fossils produced by Dr Patrick Collins of Queen’s University Belfast which was later analysed by the researcher Robert Smyth and Professor David Martill of the University of Portsmouth.
Robert Smyth said: “Analysing the shape and internal structure of the bones, we realised that they belonged to two very different animals. One is very dense and robust, typical of an armoured plant-eater. The other is slender, with thin bone walls and characteristics found only in fast-moving two-legged predatory dinosaurs called theropods.”
Dr Mike Simms, of National Museums NI, with the theropod tibia on the left and the Scelidosaurus femur on the right
