A new Ichthyosaur has been described in the Scottish Journal of Geology.  Described as looking like a “sinister dolphin”, it was 14 foot long and lived about 170 million years ago.  It’s name is Dearcmbara shawcrossi, which is pronounced ‘jark vara’.  The name means “marine lizard” in Scottish Gaelic.  The species name is for the discoverer Brian Shawcross.  It’s bones were discovered in the late 1950s on Scotland’s Isle of Skye.

“During the time of dinosaurs, the waters of Scotland were prowled by big reptiles the size of motor boats,” Dr Steve Brusatte, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences, who led the study, said:

“Their fossils are very rare, and only now, for the first time we’ve found a new species that was uniquely Scottish.”

The work was carried out by a consortium involving the University of Edinburgh, National Museums Scotland, the University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum, Scottish National Heritage and Staffin Museum, Isle of Skye.