What Was the First Dinosaur Fossil Found?

Living for over 160 million years, dinosaurs were not known for what they truly were until the early 1700s.

  1. Early Discovery

    • Dinosaur fossils were being discovered millennia before they were recognized for what they were. They were mostly thought to be the bones of dragons, giants or mythological creatures.

    Robert Plot

    • In 1676, a large bone was discovered and sent to Professor Robert Plot in Oxford. He thought the discovery to be the femur of a giant or other some pre-flood, biblical being.

    William Buckland

    • 1699, this femur and other fossils like it were assembled by William Buckland, who soon after published his findings in a scientific journal.

    Iguanadon

    • The second genus of dinosaur discovered was found by Gideon Mantell , in 1822. He only later noted the similarities between his findings and the modern iguana.

    The Dinosaur

    • The name dinosaur was not used for these mysterious reptiles until Richard Owen coined the term.