Dinosaurs and excavations?

Question

Exactly what was the first dinosaur excavated? And in what region were they found in? By that I mean the most found in one region. A friend said most bones were located here. I personally don't believe that for one second. Alas, I'm in a bet.

Serious answers please. These 10 points could put you in a better level...(LOLOLOL)

=)

Answer 1

Just so you're aware, dinosaurs are studied by paleontologists, not anthropologists. Wrong section.

Answer 2

Where exactly is "here"? Considering you are asking in English, I think you may have lost this bet...

Dinosaur bones and fossils have been found across the world, in every continent for thousands of years. Every year new remains are discovered, but the majority are in Europe and North America. Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and New Mexico have numerous fossil dinosaurs. Many of the first dinosaur fossils were found in Western Colorado. Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado and Utah has thousands of fossils.

Dinosaurs were first classified in the 19th century,  however, there are references to "dragon" bones found in China over 2,000 years ago; these were probably dinosaur fossils. Perhaps they are the source for the myriad of dragon myths?

In 1819,  William Buckland discovered the first dinosaur fossil remains of our modern times. Buckland discovered the Megalosaurus Bucklandii (Buckland's Giant Lizard) in England. It was given its name in 1824. This was the first dinosaur to be described scientifically.  In 1838, William Parker Foulke found the first (nearly) complete dinosaur fossil remains in New Jersey, USA.

Answer 3

People have been finding dinosaur fossils for hundreds of years, probably even thousands of years. The Greeks and Romans may have found fossils, giving rise to their many ogre and griffin legends. There are references to "dragon" bones found in Wucheng, Sichuan, China (written by Chang Qu) over 2,000 years ago; these were probably dinosaur fossils.

Much later, in 1676, a huge thigh bone (femur) was found in England by Reverend Plot. It was thought that the bone belonged to a "giant," but was probably from a dinosaur. A report of this find was published by R. Brookes in 1763.

The first dinosaur to be described scientifically was Megalosaurus. This genus was named in 1824, by William Buckland; Gideon Mantell (not Ferdinand August von Ritgen) assigned the scientific type species name, Megalosaurus bucklandii. Buckland (1784-1856) was a British fossil hunter and clergyman who discovered collected fossils. (Note: the first dinosaur found was Iguanodon, but it was named and described later than Megalodon.)

It was the first dinosaur ever described scientifically and first theropod dinosaur discovered (this is all in hindsight, because the dinosaurs had not yet been recognized as a separate taxonomic group - the word dinosaur hadn't even been invented yet).

The first dinosaur models (life size and made of concrete) were made by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins of England in 1854. The first dinosaur used for amusement was a life-size model of an Iguanodon (made by Hawkins) that was used to house a dinner party for scientists (including Richard Owen) at a major exhibition. The invitations to the party were sent on fake pterodactyl wings. The party took place in London, England, in 1854

The first dinosaur fossil found in the US was a thigh bone found by Dr. Caspar Wistar, in Gloucester County, New Jersey, in 1787 (it has since been lost, but more fossils were later found in the area).

The first nearly-complete dinosaur skeleton was discovered by William Parker Foulke. Foulke had heard of a discovery made by workmen in a Cretaceous marl (a crumbly type of soil) pit on the John E. Hopkins farm in Haddonfield, New Jersey beginning in 1838. Foulke heard of the discovery and recognized its importance in 1858. Unfortunately, some of the bones had already been removed by workmen. The skull-less dinosaur was excavated and named by US anatomist Joseph Leidy who named it Hadrosaurus fouki (meaning "Foulke's big lizard"). It was a duck-billed dinosaur (but it is now a doubtful genus because there is so little fossil information about it). The "Haddonfield Hadrosaurus" is on display at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.