Old Fossil?-

No Trendy Dinosaur

Ever since Dougie the Dinosaur hit the press in 1995 the Isle of Skye has lured fossil hunters north. The first bones were discovered in 1992 but kept under wraps until 95 and the femur of the sauropod,  a creature like the veggie eating Brontosaurus, is now at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. And indeed the first dinosaur tracks were found by a local expert and extracted with permission from in situ with pneumatic drills, all at the price of the expert breaking a leg rather badly. With help of drones other trackways of meat eating dinosaurs, precursors to Tyrannosaurus Rex and other therapods, have been discovered, but it isn’t only tracks. There are teeth and bones to catch the eye of the amateur dino digger. For the experts these bones include the teeth and tail bones of sauropods, the arm bones of one of the oldest armoured dinosaurs from anywhere in the world, and several serrated, razor-sharp teeth of meat-eaters. All fantastic and historic finds, but also publicity to the destroyers of the fossil sites. But now the dinosaur and other animal fossil sites in Skye have been given new legal protection in a bid to deter unscrupulous collectors and the plain daft diggers.

Dino Protection

These creatures lived more than 165 million years ago, the middle Jurassic period, when this part of Scotland was rather nearer the equator and now as some of the prehistoric locations have been badly damaged by collectors removing valuable specimens a  Nature Conservation Order (NCO) has be issued and woe betide any offenders. Recent discoveries include what could be the remains of flying reptiles, or pterosaurs. Skye locals have been encouraged to report suspicious activity at the sites. Some of the previous incursions have involved mechanical diggers and many an irreplaceable fossil has been lost. Indeed even seeming innocent stuff like taking a plaster cast of a dinosaur footprint can damage the fossil.

1890? – Why That’s Practically Last week

Despite James Pirie being founded in 1890, a heartbeat away in geological terms, we are surely not old fossils here with our lovely and convenient 21st century website, giving the best of all ages in both product choice and service.  And no I am not so old that I drink my coffee at Jurassic Perk, which is a almost a joke  that I kind of stole from the TV series Friends,  there is was Central Perk- you remember! But something I’ll never joke about is our fine selection of whisky gifts like the Royal Scot Crystal - Highland - 6 Small Whisky Tumblers in a lovely presentation box.  It is half price and five star rated by the fantastic customers we love to serve.

https://www.jamespirie.com/whisky-gifts/highland-presentation-6-whisky-tumbler.html