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International Dinosaur Discoveries

Early Dinosaur History Outside the United States

Who first published information on fossils classified as a dinosaur?

Although James Parkinson published the name Megalosaurus in 1822, the first officially recognized scientific naming and description of a dinosaur was by William Buckland (1784–1856), a professor at Oxford University in England. In 1824, Buckland published his studies of a Cretaceous period carnivore whose fossils had been found in Stonesfield, England, describing the animal based on fossilized jaws and teeth. He also used the name Megalosaurus, presenting his data at a meeting of the Geological Society of London. This was subsequently accepted as the first dinosaur to be described.



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