Polar & Coastal Dinosaurs: How Fossils from Antarctica and Scotland Reveal Life in Cold Polar Forests and Stormy Jurᴀssic Shores

New research on fossils from Antarctica and Scotland’s Isle of Skye is transforming our understanding of how dinosaurs thrived in extreme environments — from near-polar forests to rain-lashed coastal lagoons.

In Antarctica, Early Jurᴀssic (~190 Ma) dinosaurs such as the crested theropod Cryolophosaurus ellioti and sauropodomorph Glacialisaurus hammeri lived at what was then ~60–70°S laтιтude. Their fossils from Mount Kirkpatrick, preserved in volcanic ash layers, show a forested, temperate landscape with conifers and ferns. Later Cretaceous finds (e.g., ankylosaur Antarctopelta and ornithopod Trinisaura on the Antarctic Peninsula) confirm diverse dinosaur communities persisted near the South Pole when the continent was still forested and connected to South America.

Meanwhile, the Isle of Skye preserves one of the world’s richest Middle Jurᴀssic (~170 Ma) coastal records. Thousands of footprints of theropods, sauropods, and ornithopods, plus rare body fossils, were made in tidal flats and lagoons fringed by dense forests. Stormy weather and rapid sedimentation created exceptional preservation — including possible parental behaviour tracks and a recently described sail-backed ornithopod.

These sites demonstrate remarkable adaptability: polar dinosaurs endured months of darkness in lush forests, while Skye’s dinosaurs navigated dynamic, storm-battered shorelines. Together they prove dinosaurs were far more ecologically versatile than once thought, thriving from the poles to the coasts right up to the end of the Mesozoic.