Dinosaurs make tracks on the isles

Experts say the tracks were probably made by huge meat-eating dinosaurs which left their prints in the sand 165 million years ago.

Scientists have described the discovery on the east coast of the Isle of Skye as significant.

The first print was spotted on a beach looking across to Staffin Island, off Skye, by local hotelier Cathie Booth.

She was out walking her dog when she saw intriguing marks on a loose slab of rock.

She and her husband Paul called in experts from the Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow.

They confirmed that she had found a dinosaur footprint from the Jurassic period.

Further searches in the area revealed a total of 15 sets of tracks.

Rock horizon

Each footprint is made up of three huge toes in an arrow-head formation.

It is not clear exactly what sort of dinosaur left the marks.

However, it was thought to be something like the Megalosaurus, a 10m long meat eater which walked on two legs.

Scientists say the tracks are important because they are still in the rock horizon where they were formed.

Dr Neil Clark from the Hunterian Museum said: "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."

This means that the footprints are being eroded by the tide and will eventually disappear.

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

Palaeontologists are now embarking on a project to make casts and moulds of the tracks to preserve them for the future.