Dinosaur fossils have been discovered across the globe for millennia
What they were remained a mystery
In fact, Megalosaurus was thought to be
the remains of an ancient race of giant humans
Some of the theories people came up with seem
ludicrous today but they continued right up
until the 1840s, when notable comparative
anatomist Richard Owen, who was also the founder
of the Natural History Museum, noticed some
things that linked these animals together.
Now, he noticed three particular animals:
Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus.
He noticed the legs of these animals were
held tucked underneath their body,
unlike in modern reptiles where they're splayed out
to the sides. This observation was significant enough
for Owen to consider that this group
warranted a new name, and he called them Dinosauria,
or 'terrible lizards'. It's remarkable that
these three specimens that define what dinosaurs are
were found in the peaceful surroundings
of the English countryside.
