Dinosaurs · Large theropod

Megalosaurus

Say it MEG-ah-low-sore-us. The name means ‘big lizard’.

Megalosaurus beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of large theropods

Length: 6 m
Diet: Meat-eater
When: Mid Jurassicabout 166 million years ago
Fossils found in: England
Named by: Mantell (1827)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Theropoda › Megalosauridae › Megalosaurinae

Where Megalosaurus sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Large theropods. Big two-legged meat-eaters, such as Tyrannosaurus. See all 63

Found in Britain. Fossils of Megalosaurus have been found in the United Kingdom. Read about how Britain moved across the globe in Britain's journey.

Lived at the same time

Other large theropods

Eustreptospondylus Mid Jurassic
Torvosaurus Late Jurassic
Piatnitzkysaurus Late Jurassic
Dubreuillosaurus Late Jurassic
Poekilopleuron Mid Jurassic
Sinraptor Mid Jurassic
Cryolophosaurus Early Jurassic
Yangchuanosaurus Late Jurassic

Source: Megalosaurus in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.