Happy 200th birthday Megalosaurus! Megalosaurus is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur which lived throughout what is now Europe during the middle Jurassic period some 174 to 163 mya. Although it now only exists in drawings what is thought to be the first fragment of Megalosaurus consisting of a partial femur was discovered in‭ ‬1676 from a limestone quarry in Oxfordshire by professor Robert Plot,‭ ‬who due to the unprecedented nature of the find,‭ ‬declared it to belong to a biblical giant. In‭ ‬1763‭ ‬the bone was given the name‭ '‬Scrotum humanum‭' ‬by Richard Brookes,‭ ‬due to the rather crass yet accurate appearance of the end of the bone to a human scrotum.‭ ‬This name/description was never formerly accepted by any scientific body, but did prompt Rev.‭ ‬William Buckland to begin amassing various other remains from that same Oxfordshire quarry including a piece of a right lower jaw, a thigh bone, ribs, some pelvises, a foot bone, and several vertebrae. After years of study Buckland realized that these specimens all belonged to the same species of giant reptile which he named Megalosaurus meaning great lizard on February 20th 1824. Megalosaurus was 1 of 3 genera which Richard Owen used to found the Clade Dinosaur, marking Megalosaurus as the first non avian dinosaur to be formally described. Over the following centuries over 50 species would be classified as Megalosaurus however nearly all have been determined to belong to other taxa, leaving only the original Megalosaurus bucklandi as valid. Reaching around 20ft in length and 1,500lbs in weight megalosaurus was amongst mid-Jurassic Europe’s largest predators. It had a long tail, strong stout legs, a robust body, short yet muscular arms, and large head, equipped with long curved teeth. In life Megalosaurus would have inhabited tropical forests, wetlands, and coastlines feeding upon fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquatic reptiles, and other dinosaurs in the island chain that at the time constituted Europe.

Art used belongs to the following creators

Megalosaurus: Julius T. Csotonyi

Megalosaurus through the ages: Nix Draws Stuff

Megalosaurs 200th Anniversary: NazRigar

Happy 200th birthday, Megalosaurus! Seems you're feeling philosophical today!

I completely improvised the monologue and rushed the doodle, so if it looks a bit less furnished than it should be...that's because it is. Ehe. Whoops...

(Transcript under the cut in case my handwriting isn't legible enough!)

200 years.

200 years since I'd reawoken.

200 years of the others reawakening.

200 years since I'd been able to think.

200 years since I was given a name, and I found myself here again, once more.

200 years since those funny little mammals grew fascinated with me, and my kin.

...I'm not sure what to think, frankly.

I'm still not used to being able to think at all.

Sometimes I rest here though, next to this endearing attempt of an effigy. To think.

These 200 years have made quite the impact. One I have...long since faded to the background of.

But that's okay, I believe. I did my part. The torch must always pass on.

...

200 years since this all began. Perhaps there will be another 200. For now, I am content in thinking here, to pass the time.

Ah...there I go, rambling again.

Happy 200th birthday to Megalosaurus bucklandii!!!

On the 20th of February, 1824, English palaeontologist William Buckland announced a discovery at a meeting of the Geological Society of London. The fossil jawbone, several vertebrae, pelvis and limb elements he presented that day belonged to a creature unlike anything seen before: a gigantic, land-living carnivore to which he gave the name Megalosaurus, the "Great Reptile".

This announcement, including an official published description of the fossil remains, was the first of three named species that in 1842 would be collected together by Richard Owen into the group Dinosauria. This makes Megalosaurus, revealed to the world on this day 200 years ago, the first Mesozoic dinosaur to be scientifically named!

Over the years Megalosaurus has been through some ups and downs, from being the most famous dinosaurian predator to being a wastebasket taxon that basically every scrappy theropod fossil was assigned to, to slightly fading into obscurity as more spectacular finds take the spotlight. But through it all the legacy it holds as the dinosaur that kicked off this whole wild 200 year train will always be unique.

So congrats to Megalosaurus on 200 years of being a truly Great Reptile!

Megalosaurus 200th Birthday

happy 200th birthday to Megalosaurus!!! here's to 200 years of having the first properly described dinosaur genus!

It's the 200th anniversary of Megalosaurus' description.

Happy Birthday to the ORIGINAL Dinosaur!

I'm a little late, but here's a little something to celebrate Megalosaurus's 200th birthday!

Today is the 200th birthday of Megalosaurus! So to celebrate the occasion, his two old friends; Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus, decided to throw him a surprise birthday party!

Looks like they're having one heck of a time!

Happy Megalosaurus bicentennial, folks! We've now known of dinosaurs for 200 years. It's something worth celebrating!

"Happy 200th Birthday, Megalosaurus! You're still cool, don't let anyone tell you any different."

Happy 200th birthday to the OG dinosaur Megalosaurus bucklandii. Made a little sketch in my D&D sketchbook. Also turns out I haven't drawn this thing since nine years ago.

Happy...Birthday?

I know I had temporarily vanished but I am feeling monumentally better than last week.

Fun fact for you all! Today is the 200th anniversary of the naming of Megalosaurus. On February 20, 1824 William Buckland named and described Megalosurus as a giant, carnivorous amphibian that was 40 ft (12m) long.

Whoops. We now know that it was, in fact, a megalosaurid theropod dinosaur that was about half that size at 20ft (6m) long.

Megalosaurus was the first dinosaur to be named and it managed to keep that name through the last two centuries. Way to go buddy!

Happy belated 200th birthday as a reconstructed abomination to this goofy goober (=Megalosaurus [shown here eating a misassembled Iguanodon])