Megalosaurus, First Dinosaur Found

KOMPAS.com – Megalosaurus is dinosaur which is very impressive to paleontologists because this is the first dinosaur discovered.

Megalosaurus was first named by William Buckland in 1822. The naming comes from a group fossil discovered in England in 1815, starting from the spine, hips, legs, lower jaw, and teeth.

In fact, in 1676, the first fossil fragment had been found. At that time, Robert Plot, a professor at Oxford University, thought the bone fragment was part of a human femur. He called it a giant man.

In 1763, the piece of bone was named “human scrotum‘ said Richard Brookes. He named it so because the tip of the bone is shaped like a human scrotum. However, this theory was never recognized by the world.

It wasn’t until 1815 that Buckland collected more fossils from the same place where the first fossils were found. He discovered that these were not human bones.

Fossil It is known to date from the Middle Jurassic, or about 170 to 150 million years ago. The name megalosaurus itself means “big lizard”. Although the mention of lizards is controversial because these animals cannot be called lizards.

After further research, the full name of the species became Megalosaurus bucklandii. This Latin name was given by Gideon Mantell in 1827.

Morphology

From the shape of its teeth and jaws, experts believe that megalosaurus was a carnivore or a meat-eater. Megalosaurus was the largest carnivore that lived in the Middle Jurassic. Even so, it was only one-fourth the size of the largest carnivore, Tyrannosaurus rex or T-rex.

Megalosaurus body height is estimated to be about 3 meters with a tail length of up to 9 meters. Dinosaur this is bipedal or standing with two legs. He also has two short hands with clawed fingers to grasp.

Also read: This is the Last Dinosaur on Earth

Replica first dinosaur on display to the public is a megalosaurus. The replica was exhibited at The Crystal Palace exhibition in 1851 along with an iguanodon replica.

Unfortunately, the replica is not accurate. Megalosaurus is described as a large animal that stood on four legs and had a hump on its back. The reconstruction of the megalosaurus body shape continued to be carried out by experts, even into the 20th century.

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