• Situated on the coast between Lochranza and the mouth of the Sannox burn, a Carboniferous (Namurian ( ca. 320 Ma) channel sandstone hosts an extraordinary trace fossil. The trace fossil is in the form of tracks, made by a large Myriapod or Arthropleura. Discovered in 1975, by Cambridge University geologist’s, a detailed description of the tracks was made by Briggs et. al. in 1975.  There are two sets of fossil tracks that can be seen  on the outcrop (Images 1 and 2). The longest trail is 6.25 m long and 36 cm wide. The Arthropleura that made the tracks is thought to have been ca. 1m long with 26 pairs of appendages, each 10 cm long.

Image 1.

Image 2.

• The Arthropleura or Dipchlinites cuithensis, were common during the Carboniferous period.  However the fossil track found on Arran is one of the earliest records of their appearance in the Geological record. The Arthropleura or “Millipede” type creatures lived in the forest litter of the Carboniferous swamps and forests. A model (Image 3.) of the type of  Arthropleura that made the tracks, can be seen in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. Other web sites related to Arthopleura are also listed on our links page.

Image 3. A Hunterian Museum reconstruction of Arthropleura.