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Richard Owen

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A scientist stands next to a reconstructed skeleton of a moa, an extinct large bird from New Zealand.

Sir Richard Owen was a clever scientist from England. He loved to study animals, both living and those that lived long ago. He was born on 20 July 1804 and passed away on 18 December 1892.

Owen is most famous for making up the word Dinosauria. This means "Terrible Reptile"! He used three special dinosaur fossils to show what he meant: Megalosaurus, Iguanodon, and Hylaeosaurus. These fossils were found in Britain.

Because of Owen’s hard work, a wonderful place called the Natural History Museum was built in South Kensington, London, in 1881. This museum lets everyone learn about nature and see amazing things from the world.

Owen studied many kinds of animals, like fish, reptiles, birds, and even tiny sea creatures. He wrote lots of important papers about what he found. One of his big discoveries was about a special pearlly sea creature called the Nautilus. He also found footprints made long ago by ancient animals.

Even though Owen had some disagreements with other scientists, his work helped us learn a lot about the world’s amazing animals and fossils.

Images

The iconic Natural History Museum in London, a great place to learn about animals, plants, and Earth's history!
Sir Richard Owen's historic cottage, where the famous scientist lived and worked.
Portrait of Richard Owen, a 19th-century biologist known for his contributions to science.
Historical scientific illustration from 1841 showing the first use of the word “Dinosauria” to describe ancient reptiles.
A detailed drawing of a camel skeleton from an old anatomy book, showing how these animals are built.
A statue of Richard Owen, the first director of the Natural History Museum in London.
Portrait of Richard Owen, a scientist, holding a model of a crocodile skull from 1856.
Portrait of British zoologist Richard Owen with his granddaughter, circa 1890s.

Related articles

Reptile
Nautilus

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