Celebrating 100 years of famous Aberdeenshire fossil site

The talk is organised by Scottish Natural Heritage and will feature Professor Nigel Trewin of Aberdeen University, who will focus on the plant and animal fossils found at Rhynie.

Over 400 million years ago, the Rhynie area was a land of hot springs and geysers in a river valley. Professor Trewin will talk about new fossil finds and interpretations of this ancient environment by the Rhynie Research Group at Aberdeen University. Over the past few years, the Rhynie Research group has discovered new arthropods, making this the most diverse collection of Early Devonian terrestrial and freshwater fossils on Earth.

Professor Trewin said: “Scotland boasts some of the most famous fossil localities in the world, and for a small country, has a remarkable fossil record with almost every period of geological time represented by Scottish localities. These localities provide snapshots of the plants and animals that have inhabited Scotland through deep time.”

Professor Trewin is also the author of the book, Scottish Fossils, which documents 100 specimens – from the Caithness and Angus fossil fish to the dinosaurs on the Isle of Skye.

Isla Martin of SNH added: “It’s the perfect time for this talk by Professor Trewin to celebrate 100 years since the first scientific paper on Rhynie was published. Fossils tell us such fascinating stories, and it should be a terrific evening to learn more about the local area and its ancient history.”

The evening takes place at Rhynie Primary School on Tuesday, April 22, beginning at 6:30pm, with the talk beginning at 7pm. Entry is free and booking isn’t necessary, but SNH asks people to RSVP to tayside_grampian@snh.gov.uk or 01224 266514 for catering purposes.