I have heard the Maastricht fossil remains, discovered in 1764, described as "the first dinosaur remains to be found". Sadly this is not the case. They were the first fossil remains of a mosasaur to be found; however, not only were other dinosaur remains found before this time, but mosasaurs are no longer scientifically classified as dinosaurs. They were marine reptiles (similar in appearance to a modern whale or dolphin), varying from 3 feet to 60 feet in length; they were the dominant marine predators during the last 20 million years of the Cretaceous period, at the end of which (approximately 66 million years ago) they became extinct with the dinosaurs.
Dinosaur bones have been known for millennia; in China they were described as "dragon bones" around 300 AD. Scholarly descriptions of what would now be recognized as dinosaur bones first appeared in England in the late 17th century.
© Haydn Thompson 2017