George Washington died before the existence of dinosaurs was discovered

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George Washington died before dinosaurs were discovered.

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Although humans have likely lived alongside dinosaur fossils for millennia, a fossilized dinosaur bone was first described in 1842, more than four years after George Washington’s death.

That George Washington died before the existence of dinosaurs was discovered is a claim that has circulated on online channels for years.

A simple Google search revealed that this claim has been shared online since at least 2018and similar iterations have been shared on reddit, Quora, Tik Tok, instagram and xincluding the following post which had received over 8,000 likes at the time of this publication:

This is true. According to the National Constitution Centerthe former president died on December 14, 1799. Meanwhile, the first official scientific description of “Dinosauria” occurred in 1842, writes the University of California Museum of Paleontology.

But like him Biodiversity Heritage Library recognizes that humans have probably lived alongside dinosaur fossils for thousands of years. dragon legends, For exampleSome believe they were inspired by dinosaur bones.

megalosaurus It was the first dinosaur officially described in scientific literature in 1842, the newspaper writes. Museum of Natural History. However, it is thought that Fossils of the now-extinct carnivorous therapod, which once stood 30 feet tall, were discovered nearly two centuries earlier. However, at that time they were confused with the femur bones of giant humans.

Let’s take a walk in time.

A large bone discovered in an Oxfordshire quarry was Recorded by the naturalist Robert Plot in a 1677 edition of The natural history of Oxford-shire, according to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Included was an illustration of the then-unnamed bone, as well as a description that suggested the bone resembled that of the underside of a human femur.

The story continues

At first, Plot suggested that the bone belonged to an elephant. After closer examination, he concluded that it probably belonged to an ancient, giant human.

Almost a century later, in 1763, the English doctor Richard Brookes reviewed Plot’s work in his collection of books, A new and precise system of natural history. In it, Brookes agreed that the fossil It belonged to a human being, although to a completely different part of the body. Thus, the already disappeared “human scrotum” became the official documented name. Appeared in volume five from Brookes’ book when he wrote that “stones have been found that exactly represent the private parts of a man.”

(The Natural History of Oxfordshire/Public Domain)

It was not until 1842, more than four decades after Washington’s death, that biologist Richard Owens published the class “dinosaurs”for the first time in his book, British Fossil Reptiles Report. Three genera were used to define this new group: carnivores megalosaurusthe herbivore Iguanodon, and the armored hileosaur.

Based on illustrations like the previous one, many scientists agree that the bone described belonged to that of a megalosaurus. However, neither Plot nor Brookes described it as such, and as the fossil is now lost, it is likely that its origin story is also gone.

Sources:

British Association for the Advancement of Science and British Association for the Advancement of Science. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. 1841, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/104191.

—. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. 1841, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/104191.

Brookes, R. and R. Brookes. A new and precise system of natural history. Printed for J. Newbery, 1763, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/111943.

Brookes, R. (Ricardo). A new and precise system of natural history. London, printed for J. Newbery, 1763. Internet Archivehttp://archive.org/details/newaccuratesyste05broo.

Brookes, Ricardo. The natural history of fish and snakes, including sea turtles, crustaceans and shellfish, with their medicinal uses: illustrated with sections. LEGARE STREET Press, 2023.

Dinosauria: how the “terrible lizards” got their name. https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-dinosaurs-got-their-name.html. Accessed January 3, 2024.

George Washington died before dinosaurs were discovered – Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?q=george+washington+died+before+dinosaurs+were+discovered&oq=george+washington+died+before+dinosaurs+ were+discovered&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDU5ODZqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8# ip=1. Accessed January 3, 2024.

“https://Twitter.Com/ShwrThght/Status/1240370454075858944?Lang=en”. X (formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/ShwrThght/status/1240370454075858944?lang=en. Accessed January 3, 2024.

hileosaur. https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/hylaeosaurus.html. Accessed January 3, 2024.

Iguanodon. https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/iguanodon.html. Accessed January 3, 2024.

Magazine, Smithsonian and Joseph Stromberg. “Where do dragons come from?” Smithsonian Magazine, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/where-did-dragons-come-from-23969126/. Accessed January 3, 2024.

Plot, Robert. The Natural History of Oxford-Shire: An Essay on the Natural History of England. Oxford: at the Theatre; London: in Mr. S. Millers, 1677. Internet Archivehttp://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof00plotuoft.

—. The Natural History of Oxford-Shire: An Essay on the Natural History of England. Oxford: at the Theatre; London: in Mr. S. Millers, 1677. Internet Archivehttp://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof00plotuoft.

“Robert Plot’s Lost Dinosaur Bone”. tetrapod zoologyDecember 16, 2022, https://tetzoo.com/blog/2022/12/12/robert-plots-lost-dinosaur-bone.

“The Birth of the Dinosaurs: Richard Owen and Dinosauria”. Biodiversity Heritage LibraryOctober 16, 2015, https://blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2015/10/the-birth-of-dinosaurs-richard-owen-and-dinosauria.html.

The dinosaurs. https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/taxa/verts/dinosauria/index.php#:~:text=The%20term%20%22Dinosauria%22%20was%20invented,dinosaurs%20known%20at%20the%20time. Accessed January 3, 2024.

“The mysterious death of George Washington | Center of the Constitution”. National Constitution Center – Constitutioncenter.Org, https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-mysterious-death-of-george-washington. Accessed January 3, 2024.

TikTok: brighten your day. https://www.tiktok.com/@kingoftieland/video/7240164297303756075?lang=en. Accessed January 3, 2024.

“Why did George Washington never know dinosaurs existed?” Quora, https://www.quora.com/Why-did-George-Washington-never-know-dinosaurs-existed. Accessed January 3, 2024.

https://blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2015/10/the-first-described-and-validly-named-dinosaur-megalosaurus.html. Accessed January 3, 2024.