Lost letter by man who named the dinosaur unveiled

A long-lost letter from the 19th Century scientist credited with inventing the name dinosaur is to go on display at a Telford zoo.

The "highly significant" rediscovery of Sir Richard Owen's signed letter is thought to give an insight into the foundations of early palaeontology.

The palaeontologist lived from 1804 to 1892 and coined the word "Dinosauria" in 1842 to classify the reptiles as a group for the first time.

Scott Adams from Exotic Zoo said the "mind-blowing discovery" of the note, which was found in a Victorian book of autographs, would form the centrepiece of an exhibition at its site starting on 6 June.

The exhibition, being held at the zoo's Telford Natural History Museum, will also help launch the two-day Telford Fossil Festival, at the attraction from 6-7 June.

Zoo founder and director Adams said of Sir Richard: "He's the person that discovered that dinosaurs were their own group and actually gave them the name dinosaur, so it's an amazing thing."

The correspondence highlights the scientist's role in building a network of people who supplied him with fossils worthy of scientific study, said the zoo, based in Telford Town Park.

In it, Sir Richard, who also founded London's Natural History Museum, writes to a fellow palaeontologist requesting fossilised bone samples to analyse.

His analysis of such specimens shaped early understanding of the first dinosaurs and formed the foundations of modern palaeontology.

A contemporary of Charles Darwin, Sir Richard has been described by a researcher at the London museum as "cantankerous" but "extremely driven".

He wrote an anonymous book review in 1860 discrediting Darwin's famed work On the Origin of Species after its publication, of which Darwin said: "It is extremely malignant, clever, and I fear will be very damaging".

The letter was rediscovered earlier this year and came into the zoo's possession through a London company that specialises in first-edition books.

"In Victorian times, a lot of people saved letters for people's signatures, and they've just been living in an autographed book for the last 150 years," Adams said.

"It's exciting, it's mind-blowing, and hopefully it'll really engage people and help them to relate to what we're trying to tell them."

The zoo is planning a programme of talks, live shows and activities during the festival, with TV palaeontologist Dr Dean Lomax opening it on the first morning.

Visitors will also be able to view the ongoing restoration of a 4m-long (13ft) mosasaur skeleton in the venue's fossil preparation library, run by in-house palaeontologist Tom Moncrieffe.

Tickets can be bought on the zoo's website.

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