Irish Dinos

This week St. Patrick's Day celebrates Irish culture. And to many dino fans it begs the question, what dinosaurs inhabited Ireland? While England boasts many dinosaur discoveries - including the first dinosaur fossil ever formally described, Ireland seems barren of dinosaurs, despite sharing nearly identical geographical and geological features with neighboring England.

And Ireland does not spring to mind when pondering the realm of dinosaurs.

Mythology tells us St. Patrick dispatched all snakes from Ireland, but makes no claim regarding dinosaurs. Did dinosaurs EVER inhabit the Land of Ire?

In fact, it seems they did! Although not necessarily green in color, dinosaurs are known to have inhabited the Emerald Isle, once upon a time...

Since the Mesozoic dinosaur era, Ireland has been largely underwater. This has contributed to successive deposits of marine sediments, ultimately responsible for the dramatic coastal cliffs seen today, as well as doing a good job of covering the remains of dinosaurs.

However, several locales in Ireland have revealed dino fossils, including the partial remains of a medium-sized Jurassic Period bipedal predator, an early ancestor of larger theropods, such as Tyrannosaurus rex. The most complete skeleton discovered to date is attributed to a heavily armored quadrupedal plant eater, Scelidosaurus, pictured here. Covered nearly head to tail in spikes of various sizes, Scelidosaurus was well-equipped to fend-off attacks from the predators sharing its environment. A bit of Irish luck would have come in handy, as well...