The above image is specimen number OUM J13505, currently held in the Oxford University Museum. The bone was discovered in a quarry at Stonesfield, in Oxfordshire in 1815. The British geologist William Buckland (famous for coining the term "ice age", studying fossil dung and eating exotic animals), purchased the fossils and was immediately fascinated by them. In 1818 his French geologist friend Georges Cuvier visited him and informed Buckland that the jaw belonged to a giant lizard. They were then first mentioned in print by James Parkinson (the British surgeon who famously described Parkinson's Disease) in 1822.
Buckland finally got around to describing the material (more of it had been discovered since) in 1824. Buckland named the animal Megalosaurus the "Great Lizard" and believed it was some sort of giant prehistoric lizard, much like Cuvier (Buckland, 1824). Unfortunately, Buckland did not give it a species name, the current rules for naming animals not being in place until the late 19th century. A solution to this problem was proposed by Ferdinand von Ritgen in 1826 as he named the species Megalosaurus conybeari (Named after the English geologist and marine reptile specialist William Conybeare). However, he didn't provide an adequate description nor did he designate which specimen the species represents (this being another requirement in order for a species to be accepted). Therefore his name is regarded as being invalid. The situation was finally rectified by Gideon Mantell (of Iguanodon fame) in 1827 who gave the animal its current name of Megalosaurus bucklandii (named after Buckland himself).
In the intervening 200 years, Megalosaurus has been used as wastebasket taxon. Pretty much EVERY European Theropod from Jurassic or Cretaceous age rocks has been regarded as a species of Megalosaurus at some point or another. This continued up until the 1980s, when palaeontologists came to the conclusion that European theropods were more diverse than just a single genus. Most of the extra species have since been reclassified but there are still hangers-on, and seeing as how they based on teeth (and in some cases just fragments of bone), it's unlikely they will ever receive much attention. There's also a funny story involving an alleged giant's scrotum, but I'll save that for another day as well a bit more information on how and where fossils are discovered. Next week will be our first biography: that of the Sussex geologist Gideon Mantell!!!
See also:
More dinosaurs
More about Gideon Mantell
References
Buckland, W. (1824) 'XXI. - Notice on the Megalosaurus or great Fossil Lizard of Stonesfield', Transactions of the Geological Society of London, 2 (1), pp. 390-396, doi: 10.1144/transgslb.1.2.390
Mantell, G. (1827) Illustrations of the geology of Sussex, London: Lupton Relfe
Parkinson, J. (1822) Outlines of Oryctology: An introduction to the study of fossil organic remains, especially those found in the British strata, London
von Ritgen, F. (1826) 'Versuchte Herstellung einiger Becken urweltlichter Thiere', Nova Acta Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Germanicae Naturae Curiosorum 113, pp. 331-358
Buckland finally got around to describing the material (more of it had been discovered since) in 1824. Buckland named the animal Megalosaurus the "Great Lizard" and believed it was some sort of giant prehistoric lizard, much like Cuvier (Buckland, 1824). Unfortunately, Buckland did not give it a species name, the current rules for naming animals not being in place until the late 19th century. A solution to this problem was proposed by Ferdinand von Ritgen in 1826 as he named the species Megalosaurus conybeari (Named after the English geologist and marine reptile specialist William Conybeare). However, he didn't provide an adequate description nor did he designate which specimen the species represents (this being another requirement in order for a species to be accepted). Therefore his name is regarded as being invalid. The situation was finally rectified by Gideon Mantell (of Iguanodon fame) in 1827 who gave the animal its current name of Megalosaurus bucklandii (named after Buckland himself).
In the intervening 200 years, Megalosaurus has been used as wastebasket taxon. Pretty much EVERY European Theropod from Jurassic or Cretaceous age rocks has been regarded as a species of Megalosaurus at some point or another. This continued up until the 1980s, when palaeontologists came to the conclusion that European theropods were more diverse than just a single genus. Most of the extra species have since been reclassified but there are still hangers-on, and seeing as how they based on teeth (and in some cases just fragments of bone), it's unlikely they will ever receive much attention. There's also a funny story involving an alleged giant's scrotum, but I'll save that for another day as well a bit more information on how and where fossils are discovered. Next week will be our first biography: that of the Sussex geologist Gideon Mantell!!!
See also:
More dinosaurs
More about Gideon Mantell
References
Buckland, W. (1824) 'XXI. - Notice on the Megalosaurus or great Fossil Lizard of Stonesfield', Transactions of the Geological Society of London, 2 (1), pp. 390-396, doi: 10.1144/transgslb.1.2.390
Mantell, G. (1827) Illustrations of the geology of Sussex, London: Lupton Relfe
Parkinson, J. (1822) Outlines of Oryctology: An introduction to the study of fossil organic remains, especially those found in the British strata, London
von Ritgen, F. (1826) 'Versuchte Herstellung einiger Becken urweltlichter Thiere', Nova Acta Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Germanicae Naturae Curiosorum 113, pp. 331-358
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