00:39 Rare Dinosaur Footprints Date Back to Middle Jurassic Period Paleontologists have discovered huge footprints belonging to the world’s largest dinosaur. This is why they’re excited about this ‘exceedingly rare’ discovery.

At a Glance Footprints discovered on a Scottish island have been linked to an important time period in the evolution of dinosaurs.

The tracks were left behind by sauropods and theropods and are estimated to be roughly 170 million years old.

Dozens of giant dinosaur footprints have been discovered on a Scottish island and researchers say they may provide insight into an important time in the massive creatures' evolution.

Scientists believe that the fossils are from the Middle Jurassic period , which makes them "exceedingly rare," according to a recent study published in the Scottish Journal of Geology.

The tracks are estimated to be roughly 170 million years old and most of them were left behind by sauropods, considered to be the largest of all the dinosaurs, and theropods, the older cousins of the Tyrannosaurus rex, according to a release from the University of Edinburgh.

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"The more we look on the Isle of Skye, the more dinosaur footprints we find," University of Edinburgh paleontologist Dr. Steve Brusatte said in the release. "This new site records two different types of dinosaurs — long-necked cousins of Brontosaurus and sharp-toothed cousins of T. rex — hanging around a shallow lagoon, back when Scotland was much warmer and dinosaurs were beginning their march to global dominance."

About 50 tracks were found at Brother's Point, but the condition of the tides, weathering of the prints and landscape changes to the area made them hard to study, according to the release. However, the researchers were still able to map two trackways, as well as multiple single footprints.

Sauropods are considered to be the most massive land animals to have ever lived. The largest subgroup of the creatures reached nearly 100 feet tall and the smaller species grew to 50 feet.

One of the sauropod tracks discovered was as large as a car tire , Brusatte told CNN.

A different set of footprints were discovered on the isle in 2015 , according to a previous report from The Telegraph. However, they were younger and slightly smaller than the ones analyzed in this current study.

"This track site is the second discovery of sauropod footprints on Skye. It was found in rocks that were slightly older than those previously found at Duntulm on the island and demonstrates the presence of sauropods in this part of the world through a longer timescale than previously known," study lead author and University of Edinburgh researcher Paige dePolo said in the release. "This site is a useful building block for us to continue fleshing out a picture of what dinosaurs were like on Skye in the Middle Jurassic."