The Hunt For Dinosaur Fossils Isle Ruthless

Tons of rock have been disturbed at a site in the Jurassic Skye has been described as one of the boldest acts of fossil collecting in Scotland.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) said the stone was cut off the rocks near Bearreraig Bay apparently conducted a search of valuable samples.

Skye said the agency was known as "Dinosaur Island" of Scotland, due to its important fossil record.


SNH has launched an appeal for witnesses to contact police.

Skye is the only place in Scotland, where dinosaur fossils have been found.

Bearreraig Bay, north of Portree is located in an area of ​​Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). A crowbar is believed to have been used for the price on some of the rock.

Dinosaur tracks have also been removed from Valtos Skye, the NHC said.

The material collected is Valtos paleontologists have used to explain what has been called Dino Stampede in Australia, a case in which a group of dinosaurs chased by a predator.

SNH said Bearreraig Bay digging had been done without the owner's permission or consent of SNH, which administers the SSSI.

Dr. Colin Macfadyen, SNH geologist also said that the actions are against the guidelines of the Scottish Fossil Code.

The codes allow the use of shovels, saws, rock and even explosives for the extraction of fossil fuels, but only when it was beneficial for paleontological research.

Dr Macfadyen said: "It is important to collect fossils for scientific and educational purposes, and is a popular pastime.

"It is better for falling rocks fossils found, collected and distress rather than being eroded and washed away by the tide.

"However, to accelerate the process of removing a large scale rock this thing alarming is irresponsible and illegal but also potentially dangerous to humans that the rocks have been weakened and destabilized."

Dr. Macfadyen said, promising to remove the material from SSSI SNH would have been necessary, but has not been applied.

He said rock rich in fossils had been damaged at the site Bearreraig Bay.

Dr. Neil Clark of the University of Glasgow Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Skye described as one of the sites of the world largest paleontology.

Its location is highlighted in numerous discoveries in the Middle Jurassic, about 170 million years ago.

Dr. Clark told BBC Scotland news website: "This is a shock is not something that happened before I heard of ..

"Not knowing exactly where the damage is, I can not say what they are looking for. And 'perhaps the plesiosaur."

He added: "All it took now lost to science."

Skye is involved in the early turtles known to have lived in water.

164-million years, fossils of reptiles have been found embedded in blocks of rock on the Bay Cladach a'Ghlinne Strathaird peninsula.

The new species has formed a missing link between ancient terrestrial turtles and their modern descendants, water.

Lost Eileanchelys Waldman, which translates as 'Turtle Island', has been reported in the journals of the Royal Society in 2008.

For more information related to dinosaurs, visit rareresource.com.