Episode 3 of 3
Formal Announcement at the Geological Society
- When
- 20 February 1824
- Where
- Geological Society of London
Buckland formally announced Megalosaurus at the Geological Society of London on 20 February 1824, establishing it as the first validly named non-avian dinosaur genus.
The announcement occurred during a meeting where Conybeare described Plesiosaurus. Buckland, who had become president of the society in 1824, presented the first full account of the fossil dinosaur. The name was derived from Greek for 'great lizard'.
Sources
- Megalosaurus Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-21
- William Buckland Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-08
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.