Chronology of the dinosaur hunters
| 1676 | First dinosaur bone illustrated in a book by Robert Plot, but unrecognised |
| 1809 | Iguanodon shin bone found by William Smith, but unrecognised |
| 1822 | Discovery of Iguanodon tooth by Gideon Mantell |
| 1824 | Buckland describes Megalosaurus - first dinosaur to be scientifically described |
| 1825 | Mantell describes Iguanodon |
| 1833 | Discovery of Hylaeosaurus by Gideon Mantell |
| 1834 | Discovery of Iguanodon in the 'Maidstone Slab' |
| 1836 | Discovery of Hitchcocks Dinosaur footprints |
| 1842 | Owen proposes name ‘Dinosauria’ (‘terrible lizards’) for this new group of reptiles |
| 1853 | Crystal Palace exhibition opened |
| 1855 | First dinosaur remains in North America discovered by F.V.Hayden |
| 1858 | First complete skeleton found, in North America, by W.P. Foulke - a Hadrosaurus |
| 1861 | Discovery of Compsognathus, and shortly afterwards Archaeopteryx, later recognised as a link between dinosaur and bird |
| 1877 | Discovery of the 'Berlin' Archaeopteryx |
| 1877 | Discovery of Brontosaurus/Apatosaurus by O.C.Marsh |
| 1877 | Discovery of Stegosaurus |
| 1878 | Discovery of a herd of Iguanodon in a coal mine at Bernissart, Belgium |
| 1884 | Discovery of Albertosaurus skull in Red Deer Valley, Alberta, Canada |
| 1888 | Discovery of the first Triceratops by J. B. Hatcher for O. C. Marsh |
| 1895 | Acquisition of a Bernissart Iguanodon by Natural History Museum |
| 1899 | Discovery of Diplodocus |
| 1902 | Discovery of first Tyrannosaurus rex remains in Montana, by Barnum Brown |
| 1908 | Trachodon mummy unearthed by Sternberg and sons, Wyoming |
| 1909 | Start of biggest dinosaur dig on record at Tendaguru in East Africa, involving 500 workers per year. Lasted until 1911. Many Jurassic specimens, including Brachiosaurus, Kentrosaurus, Dryosaurus |
| 1910 | Start of expedition to Red Deer Valley, Montana, by Barnum Brown. Discoveries included Corythosaurus, Styracosaurus, Centrosaurus |
| 1917 | Discovery of Mandschurosaurus (now called Gilmoreosaurus) in China |
| 1923 | First discoveries of dinosaurs from Mongolia, including nests of Protoceratops, and skeletons of Oviraptor , Saurornithoides, Velociraptor from expedition organised by Roy Chapman Andrews. |
| 1940 | Discovery of Dilophosaurus |
| 1979 | Discovery of Ultrasaurus by Jim Jensen in Colorado - reputedly the world’s largest dinosaur |
| 1983 | Discovery of first Baryonyx, in a Surrey claypit |
| 1987 | Discovery of first dinosaur skeleton in Antarctica - the only continent to date that had not yielded a dinosaur bone |
| 1990 | Discovery of 2 largest specimens of T. rex yet found, in South Dakota. One is 70% complete, and nicknamed 'Sue'. |
| 1996 | Liaoning province of northeastern China yields a new dinosaur covered with feathers - Sinosauropteryx prima. |
| 1996 | New carnivorous dinosaur discovered in Isle of Wight - Neovenator |
| 1998 | Suchomimus discovered in Tenere Desert, Central Niger |
| 2000 | 'Santana Raptor' discovered near Rio de Janeiro |
| 2001 | Paralatitan discovered in Egypt |
| 2001 | Microraptor, a new Dromaeosaur skeleton, complete with feather structures, discovered in Lianing province of NE China |
| 2001 | Nothronychus - a 12 foot tall vegetarian T rex? Discovered in New Mexico |
| 2002 | Jeholornis prima half bird, half dinosaur? Discovered in Liaoning province of Northeastern China. |
| 2003 | Rajasaurus narmadensis A stocky, carnivorous dinosaur with an unusual head crest, identified from bones collected in India |
| 2007 | Futalognkosaurus dukei One of the biggest dinosaurs ever discovered. Found in Argentina |