
Tionndadh Gàidhlig (Gaelic version)
The giant winged creature, more popularly known as pterodactyls, lived around 170 million years ago and had an estimated wingspan of more than 2.5 metres.
The fossil is the best-preserved skeleton of a pterosaur found in Scotland, experts say.
The species has been given the Gaelic name Dearc sgiathanach (pronounced jark ski-an-ach), which translates as ‘winged reptile’ and also references the Isle of Skye, whose Gaelic name means ‘the winged isle.’
Exceedingly rare
The unique specimen, discovered during a National Geographic Society-funded excavation in 2017, will now be added to National Museums Scotland’s collection and studied further.
The find is described in a new paper published in Current Biology authored by scientists from the University of Edinburgh, National Museums Scotland, the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, the University of St Andrews and Staffin Museum on the Isle of Skye.
Even in the context of the amazing palaeontological finds on Skye in recent years, this one really is remarkable. To find and describe a specimen which is both so well-preserved and so significant is really special and we’re delighted to add Dearc into our collection, a unique addition to the fossil record and a specimen which will be studied now and long into the future.
Dr Nick Fraser
National Museums Scotland
Amazing discovery
Amelia Penny, a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, discovered the fossil during a field trip in 2017, led by Brusatte, after spotting its jaw protruding from the limestone layer on a tidal platform at Rubha nam Brathairean (known as Brothers’ Point).
She alerted colleagues who inspected and identified the head of a pterosaur. A painstaking operation ensued to extract the fossil, led by Dugald Ross of Staffin Museum, involving the use of diamond-tipped saws to cut it from the rock, all while racing against time as the tide came in.
After the fossil was salvaged, it was brought to the University of Edinburgh for analysis and description. CT scans of the skull have revealed large optic lobes, which indicate that Dearc would have had good eyesight.

Further research
The specimen will be the subject of further study by PhD student Natalia Jagielska, which aims to reveal more about Dearc’s behaviour, particularly how it lived and flew.