Fossil fragments of a new species of ancient marine reptile found in Scotland and that lived during the dinosaur age bears similarities to the fabled Loch Ness monster.

This new Scottish marine dinosaur is apparently a new type of ichthyosaur, which is a marine reptile that can stretch up to 14 feet. It lived 170 million years ago around the warm shallow seas of the Isle of Skye, but not in Loch Ness.

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Scottish paleontologists have uncovered fossil fragments of the animal's skull, teeth and vertebrae, including an upper arm bone during the past 50 years. Several fossils came from ichthyosaurs and a previously unknown dinosaur called Dearcmhara shawcrossi.

The unusual name was taken from the amateur fossil hunter named Brian Shawcross, who first found the fossils in Bearreraig Bay in Skye in 1959.

According to lead researcher Steve Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh's School of Geosciences, the waters of Scotland were teeming with huge reptiles as large as motor boats.

This is the first time a new species of dinosaur indigenous to Scotland has been discovered.

The Isle of Skye is one of the few sites on the planet where fossils from the Middle Jurassic Period can be unearthed. This discovery can shed more light and provide new insight about the evolution of marine dinosaurs.

According to Nick Fraser from the National Museums Scotland, this is a pivotal discovery that heralds a new major collaboration from the best paleontologists in the country.

This fossil find will be shown for only one day during the Our Dynamic Earth exhibit in Edinburgh on January 18.

TagsLoch Ness? Ancient Marine Reptile Dinosaur Found in Scotland, Scotland, loch ness monster, ancient marine dinosaur loch ness scotland, isle of skye, ichthyosaur