Page 68 - Dinosaur (DK Eyewitness Books)

Discovery timeline

Iȯ ȵȩȦ ȤȦȯȵȶȳȪȦȴ ȴȪȯȤȦ ȵȩȦ ȧȪȳȴȵ discovery of dinosaur
bones in the 1600s, fossil hunters have unearthed and
named dinosaurs in more than 600 different genera. Each
find reveals something new, helping scientists piece together
how dinosaurs moved, fed, fought, bred, and died. This
timeline highlights the major milestones in the study of
dinosaurs and lists the steps that have led to our current
Roy Chapman Andrews (right)
understanding of these extraordinary creatures. with Oviraptor eggs

1677 1853 ʛ
English museum curator Robert Plot illustrates The first lifesize models of dinosaurs appear American dinosaur hunter Charles Sternberg and
part of a Megalosaurus femur (thigh bone) in a in a London park in the UK. They are designed his sons collect a wealth of dinosaur fossils in
book. He believes it to be part of the thigh bone by sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Alberta, Canada, for Canada’s Geological Survey.
of a giant man. are made of concrete.
1915
1818 1856 German paleontologist Ernst Stromer von
Fossil bones found in Connecticut Valley in the American anatomist Joseph Leidy names Reichenbach names the 55¾ ft (17 m)
US will later prove to be the first discovery of Troodon—the first American dinosaur to be given long Spinosaurus.
a North American dinosaur—Anchisaurus. a scientific name that is still considered valid.
ʛ
1820 1859 Roy Chapman Andrews, Henry Fairfield Osborn,
Gideon Mantell, a British doctor, begins Dinosaur eggshells are reported for the first time, and Walter Granger lead American expeditions to
collecting fossils of a giant reptile that he based on discoveries in the south of France. Mongolia. They find fossils of dinosaurs including
later names and describes as Iguanodon. Oviraptor, Protoceratops, and Velociraptor, and
1861 discover nests with dinosaur eggs.
German paleontologist Hermann von Meyer
describes Archaeopteryx, a bird with feathered 1927
wings but the teeth and bony tail of a dinosaur. In Algeria, French paleontologists Charles
Depéret and J. Savornin discover the teeth of a
1877 large theropod later named Carcharodontosaurus.
Huge fossil bones found in Colorado start
a dinosaur rush to the West. By 1890, ʛ ƌ
teams working for rival paleontologists Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhongjian
Othniel C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope oversees dinosaur fossil discoveries in China
discover the fossils of many of North America’s and names dinosaurs including Lufengosaurus,
most famous dinosaurs, such as Allosaurus, Mamenchisaurus, Omeisaurus, and Tsintaosaurus.
Apatosaurus, Camarasaurus, Diplodocus,
Ornithomimus, Triceratops, and Stegosaurus. 1941
American paleontologist Roland T. Bird describes
1878 fossil footprints in Texas made by 12 sauropods
Belgian coalminers find fossils of dozens walking together. This is the first indication that
of Iguanodon at a depth of 1,056 ft (322 m). some dinosaurs traveled in herds.
Paleontologists later use these to make the first
reconstructions of whole dinosaur skeletons. 1951
British paleontologist Kenneth Kermack
1887 questions the popular notion that sauropods
British paleontologist Harry Govier Seeley needed water to buoy up their heavy bodies.
splits dinosaurs into two main groups, which He shows that water pressure would have
he calls the Saurischia (lizard-hipped) and suffocated a snorkeling sauropod.
William Buckland the Ornithischia (bird-hipped).
1824 1902
Megalosaurus becomes the first dinosaur to American fossil hunter Barnum
receive a scientific name when British geologist Brown finds the first Tyrannosaurus
William Buckland publishes an account of its skeleton in Montana.
fossil jaw.
1903
1834 American paleontologist
American geologist Edward Hitchcock starts Elmer S. Riggs names and describes
collecting fossil tracks in Connecticut Valley. Brachiosaurus, two years after fossils
He believes they were made by giant birds, of this giant, giraffelike sauropod were
but later research reveals they are tracks made discovered in Colorado.
by dinosaurs.
ʛ
1842 German paleontologists Werner
The name “Dinosauria” appears in print for Janensch and Edwin Hennig lead
the first time after British anatomist Sir Richard expeditions to Tendaguru, Tanzania.
Owen realizes that three kinds of giant fossil They find fossils of Late Jurassic dinosaurs, Carcharodontosaurus skull
reptiles formed part of a special group. including Brachiosaurus and Kentrosaurus. compared with human skull

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