Same species of dinos roamed UK and US 170 million years ago

London, Nov 24 : A new research has suggested that footprints found on Skye in Scotland, and in Wyoming, in the US, were left by the same dinosaurs or a similar species, which further establishes a geological link between the Great Britain and the US.

The preliminary research was done by the curator of palaeontology and Dr Michael Brett-Surman, of the department of paleobiology at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

According to a report by BBC News, Dr Neil Clark, of Glasgow's Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, said that some tracks at the two sites were "indistinguishable".

The scientists studied tracks from the Middle Jurassic, about 170 million years ago, found in rock formations.

If they are not from the same species, they are a very similar kind of dinosaur, according to the researchers.

Analysis included measurements of footprints for comparison, looking at the length of digits and the distance between them.

Data gathered suggested that smaller footprints from the Valtos Sandstone and Kilmaluag formations on Skye were indistinguishable from those in the Sundance Formation in Wyoming.

Four different groupings of dinosaur footprints were identified and the scientists said they may represent at least four different types of animal.

"The footprints were indistinguishable to me. If they are not from the same species, they are a very similar kind of dinosaur," Dr Clark said.

"This was preliminary research, but opens up the potential for further investigation. It really needs a full-scale study," he added.

Dr Clark ruled out a mass migration of the dinosaurs as the distance involved was between 2,000 and 3,000 miles.

Great Britain and the United States formed part of the same land-mass hundreds of millions of years ago.

According to Dr Clark, further investigation into the link was needed.

ANI