William Buckland announces Megalosaurus

Background. The Geological Society of London, a learned society based in the United Kingdom, served as the institutional context for the announcement. Buckland, an English theologian, geologist, and palaeontologist, had previously published Reliquiæ Diluvianæ in 1823. He became president of the Geological Society in 1824, providing the platform for his formal presentation of the fossil findings.

Naming History. The name Megalosaurus, meaning 'great lizard', was devised by Conybeare within a joint 1822 article by Buckland and Conybeare intended for Cuvier's Ossemens, but the publication failed. James Parkinson announced the name in 1822, though it is generally considered that this was a nomen nudum. Buckland continued working on the subject during 1823, urged by Cuvier, leading to the formal announcement in 1824.

The Announcement. On 20 February 1824, during a meeting of the Geological Society of London, Buckland formally announced Megalosaurus. This occurred in the same meeting where Conybeare described Plesiosaurus. The descriptions of the bones in the Transactions of the Geological Society in 1824 constituted a valid publication of the name.

Fossil Material. By 1824, Buckland's material consisted of specific specimens including a jaw piece with a tooth, vertebrae, ribs, pelvic bones, and a thigh bone. In the original description, Buckland repeated Cuvier's size estimate that Megalosaurus would have been 40 feet long.