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megalosaurus
📅 Updated:2025-02-23
🕒 Created:2025-02-23
🆔 ID:67221
Description
Megalosaurus was named in 1824 by William Buckland, becoming the first genus of (non-avian) dinosaur to be validly named.
Despite this claim to fame, the species is not well known today and not the most understood: the species became a “Wastebasket Taxon” with many fossils just described as being from Megalosaurus. A complete skeleton has not been found.
When first reconstructed, Megalosaurus was interpreted as a monstrous quadrupedal lizard.
Similar to how the also recently discovered Iguanadon was interpreted as a giant horned iguana, these creatures were described as Antediluvian monsters.
This interpretation, though long outdated, is perhaps more iconic that the species itself.
