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'''Dinosaurs''' are a group of reptiles that are now extinct. Their bones are found as fossils in sedimentary rock. Some were very large. Atheists claim that they originated in the Middle Triassic Period, about 240 million ago, and died out at the end of the Cretaceous, about 65.5 million years ago. The Bible reveals that God created land animals on the sixth day of Creation, which was about 6,000 years ago. Leviathan and Behemoth, two creatures mentioned in the Old Testament, are sometimes identified as dinosaurs.<ref>Steel, Allan K., "[http://creation.com/could-behemoth-have-been-a-dinosaur Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?]", </ref> The word is Greek for "terrible lizard" and was coined in 1841.<ref>Grigg, Russell, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1956/ Dinosaurs and dragons: stamping on the legends], ''Creation'' 14(3):10–14, June 1992.</ref>

'''Dinosaurs''' are a group of reptiles that are now extinct. Their bones are found as fossils in sedimentary rock. Some were very large. Atheists claim that they originated in the Middle Triassic Period, about 240 million ago, and died out at the end of the Cretaceous, about 65.5 million years ago. The Bible reveals that God created land animals on the sixth day of Creation, which was about 6,000 years ago. Leviathan and Behemoth, two creatures mentioned in the Old Testament, are sometimes identified as dinosaurs.<ref>Steel, Allan K., "[http://creation.com/could-behemoth-have-been-a-dinosaur Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?]", </ref> The word is Greek for "terrible lizard" and was coined in 1841.<ref>Grigg, Russell, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1956/ Dinosaurs and dragons: stamping on the legends], ''Creation'' 14(3):10–14, June 1992.</ref>

==Highlights of the history of dinosaur paleontology==

==History==

[[Image:Osborn.jpg‎‎|thumb|right|[[Henry Fairfield Osborn]]]]

[[Image:Osborn.jpg‎‎|thumb|right|[[Henry Fairfield Osborn]] was president of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City from 1908 to 1935.]]

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark found the skeleton of a "monsterously large fish" in what is now Gregory County, South Dakota in 1804.<ref>Hunter, Francis, [http://franceshunter.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/lewis-clark-and-the-monstrous-large-fish/ Lewis & Clark and the “Monstrous Large Fish”]", January 13, 2010.</ref> The skeleton is over 45 feet long and was later identified as the aquatic dinosaur ''plesiosaur''. The first scientifically described dinosaur was ''Megalosaurus'', reconstructed by William Buckland in 1822. It is a large carnivorous reptile of the Middle Jurassic Period, and was found in Britain. David Owen created the "dinosaur" classification in 1842 to accommodated this specimen, as well as ''Iguanodon'' and ''Hylaeosaurus,'' two similar specimens reconstructed somewhat later.  

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark found the skeleton of a "monsterously large fish" in what is now Gregory County, South Dakota in 1804.<ref>Hunter, Francis, [http://franceshunter.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/lewis-clark-and-the-monstrous-large-fish/ Lewis & Clark and the “Monstrous Large Fish”]", January 13, 2010.</ref> The skeleton is over 45 feet long and was later identified as the aquatic dinosaur ''plesiosaur''. The first scientifically described dinosaur was ''Megalosaurus'', reconstructed by William Buckland in 1822. It is a large carnivorous reptile of the Middle Jurassic Period, and was found in Britain. David Owen created the "dinosaur" classification in 1842 to accommodated this specimen, as well as ''Iguanodon'' and ''Hylaeosaurus,'' two similar specimens described somewhat later. These three dinosaurs were reconstructed and displayed at the Crystal Palace in London as part of the Exhibition of 1851.

In 1858, ''Hadrosaurus'' was found in a mineral pit in New Jersey. It was put on display at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences in 1868. In 1869, Edward Drinker Cope (1847-1897) reconstructed ''plesiosaur''. Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) was able to establish that Cope put the skull on the wrong end, humiliating Cope. The long and bitter rivalry that followed attracted great public attention. The two found numerous fossil dinosaurs in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Their museums worked out the techniques for mounting and displaying them. The feud reached a climax in 1890 as letters containing bitter recriminations were published in ''The New York Herald''. Congress responded by dismissing Marsh and revoking funds for his entire department.

In 1858, ''Hadrosaurus'' was found in a mineral pit in New Jersey. It was put on display at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences in 1868. In 1869, Edward Drinker Cope (1847-1897) reconstructed ''plesiosaur''. Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) was able to establish that Cope put the skull on the wrong end, humiliating Cope. The long and bitter rivalry that followed attracted great public attention. While previous skeletons had been discovered by accident, Cope and Marsh went on expeditions to arid parts of the American West. The two found numerous fossils in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Their museums worked out the techniques for mounting and displaying them. The feud reached a climax in 1890 as letters containing bitter recriminations were published in ''The New York Herald''. Congress responded by dismissing Marsh and revoking funds for his entire department.

==Dinosaur species==

==Dinosaur species==