Changes

==History==

==History==

[[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.]]

[[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 backbone of this skeleton is over 45 feet long. It was later identified as that of the aquatic dinosaur ''plesiosaur''. Clark also collected bones at the [[Hell Creek Formation]] in Montana, which later a renowned a paleontological sites. In 1824, William Buckland published a paper on ''Megalosaurus'', the first scientifically described dinosaur. It is a large carnivorous reptile of the Middle Jurassic Period, and was found in southern England. The following year, Gideon Mantell described ''Iguanodon'', found in Tilgate Forest, Sussex. ''Hylaeosaurus'' was discovered in Brighton in 1832.

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 backbone of this skeleton is over 45 feet long. It was later identified as that of the aquatic dinosaur ''plesiosaur''. Clark also collected bones at the [[Hell Creek Formation]] in Montana, which later gained renown as a paleontological site. In 1824, William Buckland published a paper on ''Megalosaurus'', the first scientifically described dinosaur. It is a large carnivorous reptile of the Middle Jurassic Period, and was found in southern England. The following year, Gideon Mantell described ''Iguanodon'', found in Tilgate Forest, Sussex. ''Hylaeosaurus'' was discovered in Brighton in 1832.

All three beasts had legs that stood under them like columns, as elephants do. In contrast, the legs of modern reptiles sprawl. Each had five vertebra to support the hipbone. (Modern lizards have only two.) These two characteristics justified the creation of a new biological category, and Richard Owen gave it the name "dinosaur" in 1842. The three dinosaurs were reconstructed and displayed at the Crystal Palace in London as part of the Exhibition of 1851. In 1878, several dozen ''Iguanodon'' fossils were discovered in the course of mining operations at a coal mine in Bernissart, Belgium. This find suggested that dinosaurs could travel in herds.

All three beasts had legs that stood under them like columns, as elephants do. In contrast, the legs of modern reptiles sprawl. Each had five vertebra to support the hipbone. (Modern lizards have only two.) These two characteristics justified the creation of a new biological category, and Richard Owen gave it the name "dinosaur" in 1842. The three dinosaurs were reconstructed and displayed at the Crystal Palace in London as part of the Exhibition of 1851. In 1878, several dozen ''Iguanodon'' fossils were discovered in the course of mining operations at a coal mine in Bernissart, Belgium. This find suggested that dinosaurs could travel in herds.