Murdos are defined as Scottish mountains over 3,000 feet (914.4 m) in height and with a prominence over 30 metres (98 ft);[1] a mix of imperial and metric thresholds.

[2] Cartographer Alan Dawson first compiled the list of Murdos in 1995 to provide an objective and quantitative alternative to the Scottish Mountaineering Club ("SMC") definition of a Munro,[3] which has the same height threshold but a qualitative requirement of "sufficient separation", instead of prominence.

The SMC does not maintain an official list of Murdos, unlike all its other Scottish mountain and hill classifications, .

[1] Dawson's threshold was in line with the 1994 International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation declaration that an "independent peak" had to have a prominence of over 30 metres (98 ft).

[13] These tables are therefore subject to being revised over time, and should not be amended or updated unless the entire DoBIH data is re–downloaded again.