Richard Owen

The discovery of marine reptiles in the Jurassic rocks of central and southern England helped spark a revolution in the earth sciences, opening new vistas on deep time and revealing a variety of animals whose bizarre appearances kick-started long-standing public fascination with extinct life. Meer

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Owen was the founder of the Natural History Museum, bringing the collections over from the British Museum. Although he was a supporter of evolutionary theory, he was reluctant to accept Darwin's version of evolution. Meer

Discoveries of fossil reptiles in the sea cliffs of south-western England helped to consolidate ideas of 'deep time' and extinction by revealing ancient worlds whose unfamiliar and bizarre inhabitants had no living counterparts. Meer