A large extinct reptile from the Mesozoic era, also spelled dinosaur, characterized by lizard-like hips and typically massive size.
From Greek 'deinos' (terrible) and 'sauros' (lizard). The term was coined in the 1820s by English paleontologist Richard Owen to describe the giant fossilized reptile remains being discovered.
The original spelling 'deinosaur' reveals how scientists literally named these creatures 'terrible lizards'—a perfect description for an animal that had never been seen before and was reconstructed from bone fragments.
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