Megalosaurus

This was the very first dinosaur to be named. It was identified in 1824 and called "big lizard" because it was so large. At that time people thought it was just another old reptile. They did not know it belonged to a completely different group of animals that lived many millions of years ago.

Described by Oxford University Professor Robert Plot in 1677, the thigh bone of Megalosaurus was said to come from a giant man! Nearly 150 years later it was identified as belonging to a relative of Allosaurus. Megalosaurus belonged to a family of at least 17 different types of flesh- eating dinosaurs.

It was a big, heavy predator distantly related to that terrifying meat eater, Tyrannosaurus. Megalosaurus had curved teeth with a saw-tooth edge and strong claws on each toe and finger. By studying footprints of this beast found all over Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, scientists guess that it waddled like a duck, its tail thrashing from side to side as it stumbled along. This is because its toes pointed inward.

Location: Oxfordshire, England

Size: Length- 30 feet (9m)

Classification:

Family-Megalosauridae
Suborder- Theoropoda
Order- Saurischia

Time: Middle Jurassic