Samuel Beckles

Who was Samuel Beckles?

Samuel Husband Beckles was an English 19th century dinosaur hunter, who collected remains in Sussex and the Isle of Wight. In 1854 he described bird-like trackways that he thought could have been made by dinosaurs, which he later identified as probably those of Iguanodon in 1862. In 1857, following the discovery of a mammal jaw at Durlston Bay, he directed a major excavation that became known as 'Beckles' Pit', removing sixteen metres of overburden over a 600 square metre area, one of the largest ever scientific excavations. The collection of mammal fossils that resulted is now held at the Natural History Museum. He discovered the small herbivorous dinosaur Echinodon. The only known species Echinodon becklesii and the dinosaur Becklespinax were named in his honour.