Darwin, first writings on dinosaurs, online

This is a video about Megalosaurus.

From LiveScience:

Rare Look at Darwin and First Dinosaur Hunters

By Robin Lloyd, Senior Editor

posted: 16 December 2008 10:27 am ET

A set of 19th-century research publications about to go online reveals the work of famous European scientists, including Charles Darwin, who were obsessed with dinosaurs, pterodactyls, plesiosaurs and fossilized dung.

The first full description of a dinosaur is one of the topics covered in the Transactions of the Geological Society, which will be made available online for the first time on Dec. 17, as part of the Society’s Lyell collection.

The Transactions represent the earliest systematic publishing by the Society, in print from 1811 to 1856. During this time they featured almost 350 papers, many of which have become classics, but complete print sets are extremely rare.

They include papers from world famous geologists such as Charles Darwin, William Buckland, Charles Lyell and Richard Owen. Owen, who played an important role in the founding of the Natural History Museum in London, was also behind the coining of the word “dinosauria,” meaning “terrible lizard,” in 1842.

Megalosaurus, the first fully described dinosaur

Dinosaurs feature prominently among the Transactions, including several papers by Rev. William Buckland, who became the Society’s president in 1824. These include the first full description of a dinosaur, developed from lower jaw bones found at quarries near Oxford from a creature he named “Megalosaurus,” and published in the Transactions in 1824 under the heading “Notice on the Megalosaurus or great Fossil Lizard of Stonesfield.” Megalosaurs were carnivorous theropod dinosaurs.

Bird-Like Anatomy, Posture, and Behavior Revealed by an Early Jurassic Theropod Dinosaur Resting Trace: here.

Evolution: here.

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