The distal part of a left femur of Megalosaurus from Cornwell, U.K., in posterior view, and first reported by Plot (1677); A, illustrations by Plot (1677, table 8, fig.4); and B, Brookes (1763, p. 312, figure 317) showing the label ‘Scrotum Humanum’.; C) Isolated theropod tooth (likely Megalosaurus) from the Stonesfield, U.K., illustrated by Lhuyd (1699, plate 16, figure 1328). Source: Modified from Hendrickx, et al., 2015.

In1970, 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.