The Dinohunters

A History of Dinosaur Hunting and Reconstruction

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Megalosaurus

Around 1815 the fossil bones of some large animals were discovered in Stonesfield quarries near Oxford.   The bones were acquired by William Buckland, one of which was a large jawbone with teeth in place.

Other bones included several vertebrae, pelvic and shoulder bone fragments, and some limb bones.   All the bones were huge.    Buckland estimated that the creature must have been over 40 feet in length.

dinosaur image

Megalosaurus claw

dinosaur image

Megalosaurus footprint

Buckland named the creature Megalosaurus ('Great Lizard').    He was unaware that other bones belonging to the same type of creature had been found before, most notable Robert Plot's 'Scrotum humanum' in 1676 which was later to prove to be part of

William Buckland: "Notice on the Megalosaurus or Great Fossil Lizard of Stonesfield" in Transactions of the Geological Society of London, series 2, vol 1 (1824), pp. 390-396.

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Country of the Iguanodon'(John Martin 1838) Depicts an Iguanodon attacked by a Megalosaurus

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'La terre avant la deluge'(Edouard Riou 1867) depicts an Iguanodon and Megalosaurus in combat