Temporal range: Middle Jurassic (Bathonian), 166 Ma
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Fossil specimens referred to M. bucklandii, Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The display shows most of the original syntype series, including the lectotype dentary, identified by Buckland in 1824
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Clade:
Dinosauria
Clade:
Saurischia
Clade:
Theropoda
Family:
†Megalosauridae
Subfamily:
†Megalosaurinae
Genus:
†Megalosaurus Buckland, 1824
Species:
†M. bucklandii
Binomial name
†Megalosaurus bucklandii
Mantell, 1827
Synonyms
Megalosaurus bucklandi Meyer, 1832
Megalosaurus conybeari Ritgen, 1826 (nomen oblitum)
Scrotum Humanum Brookes, 1763 (nomen oblitum)
Megalosaurus (meaning "great lizard", from Greek μέγας, megas, meaning 'big', 'tall' or 'great' and σαῦρος, sauros, meaning 'lizard') is an extinct genus of large carnivorous theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic Epoch (Bathonian stage, 166 million years ago) of southern England. Although fossils from other areas have been assigned to the genus, the only certain remains of Megalosaurus come from Oxfordshire and date to the late Middle Jurassic.
Megalosaurus was, in 1824, the first genus of non-avian dinosaur to be validly named. The type species is M. bucklandii, named in 1827.[1] In 1842, Megalosaurus was one of three genera on which Richard Owen based his Dinosauria. On Owen's directions a model was made as one of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, which greatly increased the public interest for prehistoric reptiles. Over 50 other species would eventually be classified under the genus; at first, this was because so few types of dinosaur had been identified, but the practice continued even into the 20th century after many other dinosaurs had been discovered. Today it is understood that none of these additional species was directly related to M. bucklandii, which is the only true Megalosaurus species. Because a complete skeleton of it has never been found, much is still unclear about its build.
The first naturalists who investigated Megalosaurus mistook it for a gigantic lizard 20 metres (66 ft) in length. In 1842, Owen concluded that it was no longer than 9 metres (30 ft). He still thought it was a quadruped, though. Modern scientists were able to obtain a more accurate picture, by comparing Megalosaurus with its direct relatives in the Megalosauridae. Megalosaurus was about 6 metres (20 ft) long, weighing about 700 kilograms (1,500 lb). It was bipedal, walking on stout hindlimbs, its horizontal torso balanced by a horizontal tail. Its forelimbs were short, though very robust. Megalosaurus had a rather large head, equipped with long curved teeth. It was generally a robust and heavily muscled animal.
^Babcock, Loren E. (18 March 2024). "Nomenclatural history of Megalonyx Jefferson, 1799 (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Pilosa, Megalonychidae)". ZooKeys (1195): 297–308. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1195.117999. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 10964019.
genus, the only certain remains of Megalosaurus come from Oxfordshire and date to the late Middle Jurassic. Megalosaurus was, in 1824, the first genus of...
Algeria by French paleontologists Charles Depéret and Justin Savornin as Megalosaurus saharicus. A partial skeleton was collected by crews of German paleontologist...
Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous period. The group is defined as Megalosaurus bucklandii and all taxa sharing a more recent common ancestor with it...
has often been confused with or included in Megalosaurus. In 1923, Friedrich von Huene named Megalosaurus nethercombensis from a partial skeleton (OUM...
complete specimen became the holotype of a new species in the genus Megalosaurus, named M. wetherilli by Samuel P. Welles in 1954. Welles found a larger...
Megalosaurus, M. hesperis; the specific name means 'the West' or 'western'. Later researchers questioned whether the species belonged to Megalosaurus...
bone, and part of a backbone, assigning it to a new species of Megalosaurus: Megalosaurus parkeri. The specific name honours W. Parker who in the nineteenth...
type species is E. superbus, which was initially known as a species of Megalosaurus. The holotype, specimen MNHN 2001-4, was discovered during the early...
London. Woodward made the skull the holotype specimen of a new species of Megalosaurus (a genus named in 1824), M. bradleyi, in honour of its discoverer. At...
first being found in 1896 (although it was thought to be a species of Megalosaurus) and being named in 1955. Known from several well-preserved skulls and...
Early Cretaceous of England which had been referred to Megalosaurus in the literature to "Megalosaurus" dunkeri, which thus generally came to be understood...
species to Megalosaurus, not to Ceratosaurus. Therefore, this name might be a simple copying error.: 37 Rauhut, in 2011, showed that Megalosaurus ingens...
genus for Megalosaurus dunkeri. He used the three vertebrae as the basis for this genus, noting that they were different from Megalosaurus, and created...
(1868), and Lydekker (1888) noted obvious similarities with the genus Megalosaurus, which was known at the time from remains discovered in southeastern...
Megalosaurus bucklandii, was first named and described in 1824 by William Buckland after multiple finds in Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, UK. Megalosaurus...
nascent nature of the science in the 19th century, with the Iguanodon and Megalosaurus models being particularly singled out. Following the closure of the Great...
Netherlands near Maastricht, and originally described as a new species of Megalosaurus in 1883 by Harry Seeley: M. bredai, honouring the late Dutch biologist...
elements. In 1990 the material, then considered a possible new species of Megalosaurus, was provisionally described by Hutt. Having mistaken the ischium of...
Buckland wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus. His work proved that Kirkdale Cave in North Yorkshire had been a prehistoric...
and the specific name honours Matley. This species now also includes Megalosaurus matleyi; confusingly, the dubious tooth taxon Orthogoniosaurus shares...
in 1867 naming a Laelaps gallicus and Friedrich von Huene in 1909 a Megalosaurus cuvieri. In 1964, Alick Donald Walker discovered Owen's mistake, referring...
been suggested that Dinosauria be defined with respect to the MRCA of Megalosaurus and Iguanodon, because these were two of the three genera cited by Richard...
Theropoda. Allosaurus meriani was a new combination by George Olshevsky for Megalosaurus meriani Greppin, 1870, based on a tooth from the Late Jurassic of Switzerland...
dinosaur formally named based on fossil specimens, after Megalosaurus. Together with Megalosaurus and Hylaeosaurus, it was one of the three genera originally...
case with most carnivorous dinosaurs at the time (Megalosauridae, like Megalosaurus, functioned as a sort of 'wastebin' taxon, where many unrelated species...
PMC 6906444. PMID 31827108. Benson, R.B.J (2010). "A description of Megalosaurus bucklandii (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Bathonian of the UK and the...
interest began with the discovery of one of the first known dinosaurs, Megalosaurus, named in 1824 for its large size. More than half a century later in...
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