Fossilized Human Testicles Or A Dinosaur Bone?

A little story of how the first dinosaur ever described was almost named after human genitalia.

In 1970, British paleontologist Lambert Beverly Halstead published a paper in a scientific journal explaining how the first-ever described dinosaur should keep its original name: Scrotum humanum (human scrotum). According to the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature rules, he argued that this was its correct name.

Paleontologists jumped in against this idea, and the commission eventually ruled against the change in the 1990’s. However, Beverly Halstead had a point. This is a story about the first dinosaurs ever received and why, by all means, one of the most scary species ever described could have been named after human genitalia.

Imagine the thrill of stumbling upon a massive, mysterious bone in your backyard. What could it be? In our age of internet access and frequent visits to natural history museums, many would likely wonder if we’ve found a dinosaur fossil. Depending on your background and curiosity levels, you might even be able to estimate the age of the rocks it was found on and make an educated guess about its identity.

Now, let’s transport ourselves back in time. Imagine being born two centuries ago in England. The word Dinosauria hasn’t been coined yet; you’ve never visited a natural history museum, and your main source of information about the world comes from reading or listening to the Bible. In this context, your answer to discovering a massive bone in your backyard would be VERY different. You might think it’s a relic from a giant, a monster, perhaps, or even a dragon. This is not far from what the earliest fossil hunters thought when they first unearthed the gigantic bones of creatures that no longer roamed the Earth.

For centuries, the origins of these large bones puzzled everyone, from scholars to shepherds and farmers. Ancient Greeks believed they were the remains of mythical Amazon warriors, while in Mongolia, fossils of Protoceratops may have inspired the Griffin legend. In Europe, shaped by Biblical narratives, such finds were often interpreted as relics from passages in the Old Testament.

The first chapter of how paleontologists understood that these bones belonged to a group of extinct reptiles, now known as dinosaurs, starts with a giant femur found in Oxfordshire, England. It was the late 1600s, and Robert Plot, the first chemistry professor at the University of Oxford, drew the bone in his book. He guessed it might have come from a Roman war elephant or even a giant man, reflecting old Biblical tales.

Fast-forward to 1763, when the bone was named “Scrotum humanum” (human scrotum) by Richard Brookes, who thought the fossil resembled… well, male human anatomy. Little did Brookes know that his innocent interpretation would begin a naming saga highlighting the challenges of early paleontological (and zoological) classification.

Later on, in 1824, William Buckland, a geology lecturer at Oxford described some new fossil remains and named them Megalosaurus. The species was recognized as something extraordinary — an ancient giant lizard. Buckland’s work was the first scientific description of what we now consider a dinosaur. However, this term wouldn’t be coined until eighteen years later by Richard Owen, another giant in the field of paleontology. Owen recognized that these “fearfully great lizards,” or Dinosauria, were an entirely new clade of creatures, distinct from the reptiles and mammals of modern times. Owen’s discovery started a whole new field of study that would fascinate people of all ages from then on.

However, the story doesn’t end here. The saga of the Megalosaurus name took another twist when, decades later, paleontologists considered reverting to its first given name due to the rules of scientific nomenclature. According to those, a species must be given the first name to be given to a species, even if that’s just a partial bone. When zoologists or paleontologists realize that two specimens with different names belong to the same species, they must change the name given to the later described specimen to that of the earlier described (I know, it is confusing to us too).

When in doubt, the International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature rules what the actual scientific naming must be. In this case, they ruled that since “Scrotum humanum” was not accompanied by a proper scientific description and because the only specimen had been lost, it did not meet the stringent criteria required to name a species formally. Thus, Megalosaurus was saved from an undignified and somewhat risqué title.

However, we need to understand that this tale isn’t just a quirky anecdote from the annals of science; it highlights the challenges of paleontological research. Naming a dinosaur isn’t just about stamping a label on a bone. It’s about understanding the species’ place in the natural world, its relationship to other species, and its role in our planet’s history. Trust me; this is not the first time a well-known dinosaur’s name is considered to be replaced with an earlier-coiled name (check Brontosaurus or Triceratops for some examples).

Despite its rocky start in the world of taxonomy, Megalosaurus played a crucial role in the story of paleontology. It opened the door to recognizing the existence of dinosaurs and helped ignite the public’s fascination with these prehistoric creatures. The tale of its naming also offers a window into the evolving science of paleontology, showing how our understanding of the natural world develops — not just through discoveries but also through the meticulous work of classification and naming. High-five to my favorite taxonomists; you know who you are!

From mistaking dinosaurs for human giants or mythical creatures to establishing a rigorous scientific framework that helps us understand life’s ancient past, our journey through paleontology is as fascinating as the creatures that inspire it. Megalosaurus, the first named dinosaur, remains an important chapter in this ever-evolving narrative, reminding us of our humble beginnings in the quest to understand Earth’s prehistoric mysteries.