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Megalosaurus bucklandii
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Megalosaurus (meaning "Great Lizard", from Greek μέγας, megas, meaning 'big', 'tall' or 'great' and σαῦρος, sauros, meaning 'lizard') is an extinct genus of large meat-eating theropod dinosaur of the Middle Jurassic period (Bathonian stage, 166 million years ago) of Southern England. Although fossils from other areas have been assigned to the genus, the only certain remains of Megalosaurus come from Oxfordshire and date to the later part of the Middle Jurassic.
Being named in 1824, Megalosaurus was the first genus of dinosaur to receive a scientific name. The type species is Megalosaurus bucklandii, named in 1827. In 1842, Megalosaurus was one of three genera on which Richard Owen based his Dinosauria. On Owen's directions a model was made as one of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, which greatly increased the public interest for prehistoric reptiles. Subsequently, over fifty other species would be classified under the genus, originally because dinosaurs were not well known, but even during the 20th century after many dinosaurs had been discovered. Today it is understood these additional species were not directly related to M. bucklandii, which is the only true Megalosaurus species. Because a complete skeleton of it has never been found, much is still unclear about its build. The first naturalists who investigated Megalosaurus mistook it for a gigantic lizard of 20 metres (66 ft) length. In 1842, Owen concluded that it was no longer than 9 metres, standing on upright legs. He still thought it was a quadruped, though. Modern scientists, by comparing Megalosaurus with its direct relatives in the Megalosauridae, were able to obtain a more accurate picture. Megalosaurus may have weighed up to 2000 kg. It was bipedal, walking on stout hindlimbs with its horizontal torso balanced by a horizontal tail. Its forelimbs were very robust and large for its size, with the arm bones being proportionally similar in length to those of bears and big cats but much greater in circumference. Megalosaurus had an enormous head even by the standards of theropods, with the largest specimens almost certainly having skulls over 1.4 meters long. Its skull and jaws were massively constructed and full of serrated teeth, and its overall build was stout and stocky.
Megalosaurus by Mark Witton.
 *This image is copyright of its original author (Conservative) Megalosaurus skeletal by GetAwayTrike. (Note that the head and arms were almost certainly larger as I have gone over here).  *This image is copyright of its original author My own cross-scaling for Megalosaurus specimen BMNH R1101:  *This image is copyright of its original author Megalosaurus model (updated) from the Crystal Palace Gardens  *This image is copyright of its original author
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