68 First Dinosaur Fossil
In 1822 Mantell came across the teeth of an iguana and realized that these teeth were
exact miniatures of the ones he had found 13 years earlier. Combined with other large bones
he had recovered from the site, Mantell claimed that he had discovered an ancient, giant
reptile that he named iguanodon (“iguana-toothed”). He eagerly published his discovery in
1824.
During this same period William Buckland, a professor at Oxford University, had been
collecting fossils in the Stonesfield region of England. During an 1822 outing he discovered
the jaw and several thighbones of an ancient and giant creature. (It turned out to be the same
species discovered—but not identified—by Robert Plot 150 years before.)
Buckland determined from these bones that this monster had been a biped
(two-legged) carnivore. From the bone structure, Buckland claimed that it belonged to the
reptile family. Thus he named it megalosaurus (giant lizard) and published a paper on it in
1824. With these two publications the era of dinosaurs had been discovered.
Fun Facts: The word dinosaur comes from the Greek words meaning
“terrible lizard.” Lots of dinosaurs were named after Greek words that
suited their personality or appearance. Velociraptor means “speedy robber” and triceratops means “three-horned head.”
More to Explore
Cadbury, Deborah. Terrible Lizard: The First Dinosaur Hunters and the Birth of a
New Science. New York: Henry Holt, 1995.
Dean, Dennis. Gideon Mantell and the Discovery of Dinosaurs. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Debus, Allen. Paleoimagery: The Evolution of Dinosaurs in Art. Jefferson, NC:
McFarland & Co., 2002.
Hartzog, Brooke. Iguanodon and Dr. Gideon Mantell. Cherry Hill, NJ: Rosen Group,
2001.
Klaver, Jan. Geology and Religious Sentiment: The Effect of Geological Discoveries
on English Society between 1829 and 1859. Amsterdam: Brill Academic
Publishers, 1997.
Knight, David, ed. Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural
Theology. Abingdon, England: Taylor & Francis, 2003.