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. We are in what is now Bearsden - which, like much of Scotland in that period, was underwater. Thus far, only one creature has been discovered from Bearsden, and what a beastie it is!

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 submerged under the waves, where beasties dreadful & weird darted through the mirk. Our underwater trio are small jawless fish from that period..

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 than the furry critters of the Jurassic!

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 undergrowth - in this case, the forests of what is now the Isle of Skye.

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-discovery. (Yes, really. That's what I'm doing this weekend. Every Scottish person does it.)

But before I embark on this journey, here's PrehiScotInktoberfest 12!

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.

Back at the turn of the 20th Century, while mapping near the wee village of Rhynie, incredibly rich and detailed fossil remains from the Devonian period were uncovered: such finds are called Lagerstätte. This Lagerstätte was called the Rhynie Chert for the village, and it's an extraordinary chunk of rock.

Normally, small animals are rarely fossilised on account of their size: microscopic fossils even more so. Yet the Rhynie Chert ensconced a plethora of absolutely tiny creatures, and for decades, was the only such example of such a find in the world.

So what were these beasties?

The Ballad of Asgrimm Thunderbeard

You had me at "rules for dinosaur racing."

I had my first experience of 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons on Thursday whilst visiting my wee cousin in Dundee. A bit anxious since I hadn't played a game since 3rd edition, but I figured it couldn't be that different, and since it utilised the new stuff from Tomb of Annihilation, how could I not?

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 about every land animal with four limbs, from amphibians to reptiles to birds to mammals, derives from this ancient order of beasties, and Scotland is one of the best places to find them in the world.

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 well-represented in the fossil records in Britain, Germany, and the Americas, the Middle Jurassic is a bit more mysterious. Even though it isn't the most prolific of dinosaur-bearing stratographic areas, Skye is nonetheless one of the most important for this little-understood period of our world.

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 the opposite, where I'm having to pick and choose which beastie gets a picture!