The term dinosaur was introduced by Richard Owen in 1842 to classify three "fearfully great reptiles", Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus, the only species known at the time. Their fossil remains were insufficient to give an idea of their appearance.
The first sufficiently complete specimens were discovered from the middle of the 19th century. The first reasonably complete dinosaur skeleton was found in 1858 during quarrying of a sand pit in Haddonfield, New Jersey (USA). It brought the surprise discovery that some dinosaurs were bipedal, walking on two legs instead of on all fours. Bipedalism was a revolutionary thought for a reptilian posture.
The fascination of the general public with dinosaurs began with this first specimen. Attendance at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, were it was originally mounted, increased three-fold with this new exhibit.
In the late 1870s dinosaur skeletons were found in abundance in the Garden Park area of Colorado and at Como Bluff, Wyoming (USA), creating the First North American Great Dinosaur Rush that developed into a "war" between rival collectors. The Second Great Dinosaur Rush took place at the Red Deer River in southern Alberta after 1910.
The scientific term Dinosauria describes a diverse group of animals with widely different modes of living. Dinosaurs are a specific subgroup of the archosaurs, a group that includes crocodiles and birds. The species normally associated with the word dinosaur lived from late in the Triassic period (about 225 million years ago) until the end of the Mesozoic era (about 65 million years ago).
Not all dinosaurs lived at the same time. Because the scientific group Dinosauria includes crocodiles and birds it is not extinct. Birds are scientifically dinosaurs. The closest living relatives of the extinct line of dinosaurs are the cockatoos, cassowaries and related bird species.
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Guralnick, R., D. Polly, C. Whitney and D. Smith (1993 - 2000) The Dinosauria: Truth is Stranger than Fiction, http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/dinosaur.html (accessed 15 April 2004).
myinternet, Dinosaurs, Worksheet 2: Favourite Dinosaur - A-Z of different dinosaurs types, http://www.internal.schools.net.au/edu/lesson_ideas/dinosaurs/dino_wksht5.html (accessed 21 April 2004)