PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 24: Westlothiana lizziae

PrehiScotInktoberfest 24 is a very special one for me. Not long ago, my grandfather celebrated his 84th birthday. One of my favourite memo...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 23: Scleromochlus taylori

The unforgiving desert of Triassic... Lossiemouth.  Yes, really. The denizens of Lossimouth's Sandstone formations were used to a far ...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 22: Cowiedesmus eroticopodus

PrehiScotInktoberfest 22 takes us to Silurian Stonehaven, some 423 million years ago, to the beginning of life on land. The rocks of Cowie...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 21: Cephalaspis

PrehiScotInktoberfest 21 returns to the sea (again, this happens a lot when most of your country's fossils are marine lifeforms). Ce...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 20: Ribbo

Today's beastie is as-yet officially unnamed, but affectionately known as "Ribbo." Ribbo is another tetrapod from the fabled ...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 19: Ainiktozoon loganens

PrehiScotInktoberfest hops back to Silurian Scotland, where unspeakable, indescribable THINGS once dwelt in the ancient waters of what is n...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 18: Arthropleura

PrehiScotInktoberfest 18 returns to the land of BIG GIANT CREEPY CRAWLY BEASTIE BUGS WARNING FOR BUGAPHOBES We've all heard of Nessie;...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 17: Eileanchelys waldmani & Friends

Time for PrehiScotInktoberfest 17! Still in the sea, but now on to the familiar Triassic period. While much of the fossilised marine life ...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 16: Akmonistion zangerli

PrehiScotInktoberfest 16 stays in the sea, but jumps forward a bit in time to the early Carboniferous period, 360 - 298 million years ago....

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 15: Jawless Wonders of the Silurian

PrehiScotInktoberfest 15 returns to the sea, back to the late Silurian period, in what is now Lesmahagow. Back then, North Lanarkshire was...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 14: Silvanerpeton miripedes & Pulmonoscorpius kirktonensis

PrehiScotInktoberfest 14 returns to the undergrowth, but this time back to the primeval Devonian, and the beasties are quite a bit nastier...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 13: Hoots Mon Erra Moose Loose Aboot This Hoose

PrehiScotInktoberfest 13 returns to the Jurassic, but rather than feature immense dinosaurs or grand sea creatures, we delve into the unde...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 12: Pterichthyodes milleri

The next three days may see a dearth of PrehiScotInktoberfest, for I'll be away deep in the Mountains of Argyll on a quest of self-dis...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 11: The Marvelous Creatures of the Rhynie Chert

CAUTION FOR ARACHNOPHOBES Beware, there's a beastie in PrehiScotInktoberfest 11! Well, technically not a spider... Let me explain. Ba...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 10: Eucritta melanolimnetes

Scotland is one of the most important palaeontological sites in the world for a particular group of animals - the Stem Tetrapods . Just abo...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 9: The Dinosaurs of Skye

Jurassic Skye catalogues a rather mysterious period of earth's history - the Middle Jurassic. While the Early & Late Jurassic are...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 7: Paraproetus girvanensis & Threavia gulosa

When I first started out, I was worried I wouldn't find enough Scottish prehistoric creatures to fill out 31 days: now, I'm finding...

PrehiScotInktoberfest Day 6: Dearcmhara shawcrossi

A few years ago, you probably came across one of *those* headlines. You know the ones : palaeontology news reported by someone who doesn...

PrehiscotInktoberfest Day 4: Hibbertopterus scouleri & Casineria

PrehiscotInktoberfest Day 4: What could have made tracks like these, found in modern Fife?   The very strange Hibbertopterus scouleri (...

PrehiscotInktoberfest Day 2: Leptopleuron lacertinum

PrehiscotInktoberfest continues with another cool wee beastie from Elgin's fossil beds - and one with an interesting history of discove...