British Dinosaurs - Dinosaurs of the UK
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Which Dinosaurs Lived in Britain?
Want to learn about British dinosaurs. That is, dinosaurs whose remains have been discovered in Britain.
We knew that dinosaurs certainly had been discovered in the UK and that we had a strong history in paleontology. But we didn't actually know which species had lived in Britain. After my then 3.5-year-old son and I had a discussion about this I set out to find out about the history of dinosaur discovery in Britain.
It turns out that some pretty impressive prehistoric creatures were first discovered in Britain and that British scientists are still making new discoveries today. And we discovered lots of interesting facts. What is the connection between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and British dinosaurs? Who got started in paleontology as a young girl in the early 1800s? Where is Dinosaur Island? Read on to find out.
We knew that dinosaurs certainly had been discovered in the UK and that we had a strong history in paleontology. But we didn't actually know which species had lived in Britain. After my then 3.5-year-old son and I had a discussion about this I set out to find out about the history of dinosaur discovery in Britain.
It turns out that some pretty impressive prehistoric creatures were first discovered in Britain and that British scientists are still making new discoveries today. And we discovered lots of interesting facts. What is the connection between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and British dinosaurs? Who got started in paleontology as a young girl in the early 1800s? Where is Dinosaur Island? Read on to find out.
Why so many dinosaurs in Britain?
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Island
"Britain has moved around a lot in its position in relation to the continents, and was in the middle of the northern super-continent during the Jurassic period before it later broke in half into North America and Eurasia.
"Britain seems to have been at the crossroads in the middle, so any dinosaurs shared between North America and Eurasia must have gone through what is now the UK." - Dr Darren Naish, honorary researcher in palaeobiology.
"Britain seems to have been at the crossroads in the middle, so any dinosaurs shared between North America and Eurasia must have gone through what is now the UK." - Dr Darren Naish, honorary researcher in palaeobiology.
UK Dinosaur History
It must have been a fascinating time. Discovering and coming to understand the huge prehistoric beasts that had roamed the earth millions of years ago.
The following figures played a key role in early dinosaur paleontology:
Gideon Mantell (1790-1852) was an English doctor from Sussex. Gideon was a paleontologist throughout his life and contributed greatly to the field as we shall see. One of the stories told about Mantell is that his wife found a tooth that looked like a very large Iguana tooth and it was many years before Mantell managed to complete the skeleton (can you guess which dinosaur it turned out to be?)
Mary Anning (1799-1847) was a fossil collector who gained a reputation as a paleontologist. She lived in Lyme Regis and made many important prehistoric discoveries. She started fossil collecting to earn money and although women and the lower classes were not respecting in scientific circles, Mary managed to make an impact.
(Benjamin) Waterhouse Hawkins (1807-1894) was an English sculptor and artist with an interest in natural history. He built the life-size Crystal Palace Dinosaurs under the scientific direction of Richard Owen. To celebrate the creation of the models, Waterhouse Hawkins invited the scientists of the day to a dinner party in a most unusual location ...
Sir Richard Owen (1809-1892) was an English biologist and paleontologist. He's best known for inventing the term Dinosauria (Terrible Lizard). Owen was a central character during the early days of dinosaur discovery. Early on he was well respected but he was an outspoken character who had various disagreements with his contemporaries.
Find out more about the early dinosaur experts in the following books:
The following figures played a key role in early dinosaur paleontology:
Gideon Mantell (1790-1852) was an English doctor from Sussex. Gideon was a paleontologist throughout his life and contributed greatly to the field as we shall see. One of the stories told about Mantell is that his wife found a tooth that looked like a very large Iguana tooth and it was many years before Mantell managed to complete the skeleton (can you guess which dinosaur it turned out to be?)
Mary Anning (1799-1847) was a fossil collector who gained a reputation as a paleontologist. She lived in Lyme Regis and made many important prehistoric discoveries. She started fossil collecting to earn money and although women and the lower classes were not respecting in scientific circles, Mary managed to make an impact.
(Benjamin) Waterhouse Hawkins (1807-1894) was an English sculptor and artist with an interest in natural history. He built the life-size Crystal Palace Dinosaurs under the scientific direction of Richard Owen. To celebrate the creation of the models, Waterhouse Hawkins invited the scientists of the day to a dinner party in a most unusual location ...
Sir Richard Owen (1809-1892) was an English biologist and paleontologist. He's best known for inventing the term Dinosauria (Terrible Lizard). Owen was a central character during the early days of dinosaur discovery. Early on he was well respected but he was an outspoken character who had various disagreements with his contemporaries.
Find out more about the early dinosaur experts in the following books:
- The Dinosaur Hunters: A True Story of Scientific Rivalry and the Discovery of the Prehistoric World
"It may seem surprising but dinosaurs are actually a British "invention" of the early 19th century. The name dinosaur was coined in 1842 by an English anatomist Richard Owen, a highly ambitious, machiavellian schemer and villain of Deborah Cadbury's The Dinosaur Hunters: A True Story of Scientific Rivalry and the Discovery of the Prehistoric World. Her hero is Gideon Mantell, a practising doctor, who found and first described many of the bones of the beasts that subsequently became known as dinosaurs. Full of quotes from contemporary sources, The Dinosaur Hunters brilliantly evokes the Dickensian world of early Victorian science and society. " - Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
A novel based on the life of Mary Anning. This is a good one for the Mums of dinosaur fans. - The Extraordinary Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins
"In the mid-nineteenth century an artist named Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins had one ambition: to show the world what dinosaurs lookd like. His astonishing life-size models impressed Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and wowed the crowds at the famous Crystal Place exhibition. Brought vividly to life by award-winning illustrator Brian Selznick, this intriguing true story will captivate readers of any age. "
This book really is beautiful, check out the preview of an earlier version of The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins on google books.- Stone Girl, Bone Girl
"Many children today are fascinated by fossils and dinosaurs and this interesting book will appeal to them. Designed for the confident reader and made accessible by an illustrated format and large typeface, this is the true story of Mary Anning, born in Lyme Regis Dorset in 1799, and describes her lifelong fascination with collecting fossils. At the time, this was a most unusual hobby, especially for a girl, and the title of the book, Stone Girl Bone Girl, is part of a rhyme made up by the other children of the town to tease young Mary. "
Now we'll look at some British Dinosaurs
Megalosaurus
Megalosaurus was one of the first dinosaurs to be discovered and was the first to get an official name. The first Megalosaurus bone was found at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire in 1676, although they didn't know what it was at the time. That bone is now lost but is well documented. Early reconstructions show Megalosaurus on all fours, but he walked on two legs. Megalosaurus was a large carnivore - I'm surprised it isn't better known in the UK.
Megalosaurus Facts and Resources
Megalosaurus Facts and Resources
- Megalosaurus by Janet Riehecky
Children's book about Megalosaurus with detailed pictures and lots of facts.
Preview at google books- Megalosaurus Footprints at Ardley Trackways, near Bicester
- "Natural England has recently confirmed it wants to make Ardley Trackways, near Bicester, a site of special scientific interest (SSSI).
Footprints of both the Megalosaurus and the Cetiosaurus were discovered by a school teacher there in 1997. " - Megalosaurus by Babette Deutsch
- Best Poems of 1923. The link takes you direct to the full text of the poem at google books.
- Crystal Palace Dinosaurs
Megalosaurus is one of the dinosaurs featured in the 1850s Crystal Palace Dinosaurs exhibit which can still be viewed in London today.
Picture: An Iguanodon and a Megalosaurus of the Cretacean Era - Buy at AllPosters.com
Iguanodon
Iguanodon is probably the best known of the dinosaurs that lived in the British Isles. Iguanodon was a large herbivore. Iguanodon was discovered in 1822 by Gideon Mantell. Well actually, it's said that his wife found the first remains of Iguanodon - a tooth.
- Iguanodon Dinner Party
Iguanodon was one of the Crystal Palace dinosaurs made by Waterhouse Hawkins. To celebrate the creation of the dinosaurs, Waterhouse Hawkins invited famous scientists to a dinner held inside the model Iguanodon! Scientists at the time thought that Iguanodon's thumb spike was a nose horn - we've since learnt much more about what Iguanodon looked like.
Picture: Iguanodon Dine Giclee Print- Buy at AllPosters.com- Safari Iguanodon Dinosaur
You can get a toy model of Iguanodon (age 3+). Notice the thumb spikes and no nose horn!
View more Iguanodon toys at Amazon.- Iguanodon (Do You Know Dinosaurs)
"Its tummy was big, its bottom was fat. In fact, its whole body was HUGE. But, IGUANODON ... didn't eat other dinosaurs didn't do really smelly poos and it didn't even have front teeth! NOW YOU KNOW a bit about IGUANODON, find out ALL the facts inside! "
See more Iguanodon books at Amazon.- The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
Conan Doyle happened upon a set of Iguanodon footprints near his home in Sussex, this was apparently a key trigger for his Lost World novel which features Iguanodon and other dinosaurs.
Several Lost World DVDs are available including the first Lost World film from 1925- Disney's Dinosaur Film
A famous Iguanodon! The star of the Disney Dinosaur movie is Aladar the Iguanodon.
Scelidosaurus
Scelidosaurus was a herbivore and an armoured dinosaur, related to Ankylosaurus. Scelidosaurus has only been found in Charmouth, Dorset. Scelidosaurus was named by Sir Richard Owen in 1859.
Scelidosaurus Facts and Resources
Scelidosaurus Facts and Resources
- Scelidosaurus Poster
Scelidisaurus was an armoured dinosaur as we can see in this poster.
Scelidosaurus Giclee Print - Buy at AllPosters.com- Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs
We first came across Scelidosaurus in Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs. Harry finds a bucketful of dinosaurs in the attic and takes them to the library to find out their names, he names the first one with "You are my Scelidosaurus". - One of the most complete dinosaur skeletons to be discovered in Britain is to go on display in Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery.
One of the most complete dinosaur skeletons discovered is a Scelidosaurus found in Charmouth, Dorset in 2000. You can listen to the museum creator describing the find.
Ichthyosaur and Plesiosaurus
Marine Reptiles
Ichthyosaur and Plesiosaurus are not technically dinosaurs. They are prehistoric marine reptiles. Lyme Regis and their famous inhabitant Mary Anning played a key role in their discover.
- Plesiosaurus Poster
Plesiosaurus
Giclee Print - Buy at AllPosters.com- Jurassic Mary: Mary Anning and the Primeval Monsters
Many Anning contributed greatly to the discovery of prehistoric creatures. She lived in Lyme Regis on the Dorset coast and started fossil hunting as a child. She went on to find some of the first Icthyosaur bones and to discover Plesiosaurus - both prehistoric marine reptiles. - Monster Fish: The Adventure of the Ichthyosaurs
The Ichthyosaur features in this boldy illustrated children's book. A preview of Monster Fish is available at google books.
Baryonx
Baryonyx is a favourite in our house. DS1 learned about Baryonyx at preschool and came home and told us all about him - he was "a kind of Spinosaurus with lots of teeth and a head like a crocodile". We hadn't come across him before this, but DS1 got it pretty much right.
Baryonyx was discovered very recently in 1983 which explains why it wasn't one of the dinosaurs I grew up hearing about.
Baryonyx Facts and Resources
Baryonyx was discovered very recently in 1983 which explains why it wasn't one of the dinosaurs I grew up hearing about.
Baryonyx Facts and Resources
- Finding Baryonyx at the Natural History Museum
- Great resource for kids about the discovery of Baryonyx in 1983 with a video to watch.
- Safari Carnegie 403301 - Baryonyx
To model of the fish-eating Baryonyx for age 3+.- Baryonyx and Other Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight Digs in England
The Isle of Wight is known as Dinosaur Island for good reason. Baryonyx and many other British dinosaurs have been found here.- The Baryonyx Kid
A song about a Baryonx! By Ron Schmidtling on the album Little Dinosounds. Click The Baryonyx Kid to go and listen to a sample.- Bendable plush Baryonyx
53cms Bendable plush Baryonyx from Wild Republic
British Dinosaur Resources
Some resources to help you find out even more about British dinosaurs.
- Teeming with dinosaurs: how Britain was real Jurassic Park
- Dr Darren Naish, an honorary researcher in palaeobiology and co-author of the report, said: "Other countries may have more and/or better dinosaur fossils but we have the longest record of research and, for a small country, we have a very rich dinosaur record.
"We seem to have had many early appearances of groups of dinosaurs, and this suggests we were an important place in their evolution.
"Britain has moved around a lot in its position in relation to the continents, and was in the middle of the northern super-continent during the Jurassic period before it later broke in half into North America and Eurasia.
"Britain seems to have been at the crossroads in the middle, so any dinosaurs shared between North America and Eurasia must have gone through what is now the UK." - Dinosaur hunter unearths nearly 50 new species in Britain's own Jurassic Park
- The findings of Dr Steve Sweetman of Portsmouth University on the Isle of Wight
- Natural History Museum - Dino Directory - England
- Details of 24 dinosaurs from England with pictures and timespans.
Comments
Let us know what you think. And if you enjoyed finding out about British Dinosaurs please click on the thumbs up at the top or bottom of this page.
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bunyip
Jun 1, 2011 @ 1:06 am | delete
- Interesting information. I didn't know anything about dinosaur finds in the UK until I read your lens.
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inkserotica
May 28, 2011 @ 4:06 pm | delete
- A fluttering of ghostly angel wings have passed on by and sent blessings your way :)
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Blessedmombygrace
Mar 7, 2011 @ 3:40 pm | delete
- Neat lens.
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ChrisDay
Dec 15, 2010 @ 3:17 pm | delete
- Dinosaurs are always fascinating, esp. British 'natives'. Thanks
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howdoyouspellstupid
Dec 7, 2010 @ 1:25 pm | delete
- Very cool lens! Dinosaurs are so interesting, and you and your family seem to know a lot of facts!
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