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DVL-0086Specimen Record

Megalosaurus

Megalosaurus bucklandii

MEG-ah-low-SOR-us BUCK-land-ee-eye

Illustration of Megalosaurus bucklandii
  • Steak-Knife Teeth: The lower jaw from Oxfordshire preserves large, blade-shaped teeth with tiny serrations along the edges — basically built-in steak knives for slicing through meat. These teeth are the most complete and scientifically important fossils of Megalosaurus, and they're what William Buckland used to describe the species way back in 1824.
  • Grappling Arms: Unlike T. rex's famously tiny arms, Megalosaurus had short but muscular forelimbs with three clawed fingers that curved backwards like meat hooks. These arms were probably used to grab and hold struggling prey — though sadly, the actual hand bones are pretty incomplete.
  • Powerful Jaw: The preserved lower jawbone is unusually deep and heavily built, a sign that Megalosaurus could bite down with serious force. This chunky jaw sets it apart from lighter-built predators of the time and suggests it could take down big prey — maybe even the sauropods that lived alongside it in ancient Oxfordshire.
  • Pillar Legs: The thigh bone and other leg bones are massively built with thick, dense walls — strong enough to support an estimated 700 kg body on just two legs. Fun fact: a partial thigh bone was illustrated way back in 1676, but people thought it belonged to a biblical giant human. The mistake lasted over a century!
  • S-Curved Neck: Like its close relative Torvosaurus, Megalosaurus almost certainly held its head on an S-shaped neck, packed with powerful muscles to control that heavy, weaponised skull during attacks. The exact neck shape is educated guesswork since the neck bones are incomplete, but other well-preserved relatives give us strong clues.
●Middle Jurassic174.7–163.5 myaSaurischiaTheropod🥩 Carnivore🦵 Biped

The first dinosaur ever scientifically named, Megalosaurus was terrorizing Middle Jurassic England nearly 200 years before T. rex became famous.

Did you know?
  • A Megalosaurus thigh bone illustrated in 1676 was the first dinosaur bone ever depicted in scientific literature—though it was thought to be from a giant human

About

Megalosaurus holds an extraordinary place in scientific history as the very first dinosaur to receive a formal scientific name, described by William Buckland in 1824. This large prowled the subtropical forests and floodplains of what is now Oxfordshire, England, during the Middle Jurassic period, around 166 million years ago. As a powerful , it likely hunted the sauropods and ornithopods that shared its environment.

This carnivore was built for predation, with robust jaws lined with , blade-like teeth designed for slicing through flesh. Its strong hindlimbs supported a muscular body, while relatively short but powerful forelimbs ended in sharp claws. Though not as large as later giants like Allosaurus or Tyrannosaurus, Megalosaurus was still a formidable hunter of its time, capable of taking down substantial prey.

The discovery history of Megalosaurus is a fascinating chapter in paleontology. Fossils were actually found decades before Buckland's description—a partial was illustrated as early as 1676 and was initially interpreted as belonging to a giant human or biblical giant. Buckland recognized these bones as reptilian and coined the name meaning 'great lizard.' Ironically, for over a century afterward, Megalosaurus became a taxonomic 'wastebasket,' with theropod remains from around the world incorrectly assigned to it.

Today, only material from the Taynton Limestone Formation of Oxfordshire is considered true Megalosaurus bucklandii. The incomplete nature of the known fossils—primarily jaw fragments, , and limb bones—means that many aspects of its appearance remain uncertain, and the famous Victorian reconstructions showing it as a dragon-like beast were dramatically wrong.

Quick Facts

Scientific name
Megalosaurus bucklandii
Group
Theropod · Megalosauridae
Lived
Middle Jurassic, 168.3–166.1 million years ago
Diet
Carnivore
Movement
Walked on two legs
Fossils found in
Stonefield Slate / Taynton Limestone Formation, Oxfordshire, England
Discovery credited to
1824, William Buckland
Holotype
OUM J13505 · Oxford University Museum of Natural History
DinoVault record
DVL-0086

Where Megalosaurus Roamed

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During the Middle Jurassic, Megalosaurus bucklandii roamed the warm, subtropical islands of what is now southern England, part of a scattered archipelago positioned along the margins of the shallow Tethys Sea that divided the fragmenting supercontinent of Pangaea, where lush fern-covered floodplains and coastal lagoons provided rich hunting grounds for this apex predator.

Keep exploring the vault

Ceratosaurus
⚔️ Rival

Ceratosaurus

Ceratosaurus nasicornis

Both are medium-sized theropod carnivores from the Jurassic period.

Allosaurus
🔀 Evolutionary echo

Allosaurus

Allosaurus fragilis

Both Megalosaurus and Allosaurus represent parallel evolution of large tetanuran theropod body plans in the Jurassic.

Monolophosaurus
🔀 Evolutionary echo

Monolophosaurus

Monolophosaurus jiangi

Both are Middle Jurassic tetanuran theropods that evolved cranial ornamentation and medium-to-large body sizes independently.

Huayangosaurus
🗺️ Formation neighbor

Huayangosaurus

Huayangosaurus taibaii

Huayangosaurus is a Middle Jurassic stegosaur, contemporary with Megalosaurus.

Mamenchisaurus
🗺️ Formation neighbor

Mamenchisaurus

Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum

Mamenchisaurus is a Middle-to-Late Jurassic sauropod that represents the type of large herbivore fauna that coexisted with megalosaurid predators during this period, illustrating the ecological context of Megalosaurus as a predator of large prey.

Sources & Citation

Cite this record

Records are updated as research changes, so citations include the date you accessed this page.

Length estimates
Benson 2010; fragmentary material limits precision
Height estimates
Estimated from limb proportions; Benson 2010
Weight estimates
Benson et al. 2014; estimates vary due to incomplete skeleton
Speed estimates
Inferred from megalosaurid limb proportions; no direct evidence