Owen's Dinosauria
In 1842 the anatomist Richard Owen attempted to bring order to the recent discoveries of prehistoric reptiles. Owen grouped the three vanished genera - Iguanodon, Megalosaurus and Hylaeosaurus together with the name Dinosauria ("terrible lizards"). The term 'dinosaur' was born.
Owen's reconstruction of Iguanodon
Owen's view of Iguanodon
Owen's representation of the Iguanodon, later constructed in concrete for the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1854 in the grounds of Sydenham Park, was of a creature standing on all fours looking more like a rhinoceros, and still having the spike on it's nose - a monstrous Victorian lizard-like creature.
The discovery continues.....
1825 Mantell's first impressions - was that a horn?
1841 Owen's Iguanodon, a huge quadruped
1857 Iguanodon stands up
1878 The Bernissart Discovery
Present Day Iguanodon