William Buckland describes Megalosaurus, the first dinosaur to be named

In 1824 the Oxford geologist and clergyman William Buckland presented to the Geological Society of London a description of bones found in the Stonesfield slate quarry near Oxford, including a lower jaw with teeth, belonging to a huge extinct reptile that he named Megalosaurus, 'great lizard'. He estimated that it was 12 metres long, and thought it a giant lizard. It was the first dinosaur to be scientifically described and named. A year later Gideon Mantell announced Iguanodon. Richard Owen recognised in 1842 that these animals made up a distinct group, and named them Dinosauria.

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