Feb 21, 2024

🎉🦕🎁 Happy Birthday, #Megalosaurus! 🎂🎈🦖

200 years ago, in 1824, the first dinosaur was taxonomically described by Oxford University's first reader in geology, William Buckland. When the holotype specimen was revealed to the public, Buckland described bones from separate individuals of an, “enormous fossil animal... [with] a length exceeding 40 feet [12m] and a bulk equal to that of an elephant,” (Oxford press, 1824). He incorrectly presumed that Megalosaurus walked on all fours and was "probably amphibious" due to our limited understanding of the animal kingdom. Buckland identified as a natural theologist, and believed that new life forms were continually being created by a higher power, and unintentionally discovered many animals in an attempt to prove God was behind the natural order of the world, and not evolution, as some of his peers believed. In his free time, he was an “intellivore,” or someone who took great pride in expanding their palette to consume almost anything. During his many parties, Buckland was reported to eat mice, puppies, kangaroo, slugs, crocodile, horse, elephant, panther, rotting flesh, poisonous plants, mercury, and even a piece of King Louis XVI’s preserved heart from the museum’s collections. He is widely considered one of the greatest geologists that ever lived due to his contributions to the field, however it wouldn’t be until Richard Owen contributed his own research in 1841 that we would have a name for many of the animals he discovered -dinosaurs. Since megalosaurus’s first appearance to the public, scientists have discovered 1124+ additional species of dinosaurs, as well as a myriad of other prehistoric plants, animals, bacteria, and natural phenomena. It’s estimated that between 70 and 90% of all prehistoric life remains undiscovered, and without Buckland’s and Owen’s passion for the natural world, we likely wouldn’t have such an extraordinary foundation for paleontology today!

#paleontology #paleoart #art #drawing #dinosaur