200 years after the first dinosaur, scientists use brain scans on a 100-million-year-old snake fossil from Brazil

• image AI generatedTwo centuries ago, a British geologist gave the world its first named dinosaur.
• Megalosaurus, described from a handful of fossilised bones, marked the birth of an entire scientific field.
• Back then, researchers worked with little more than fragments, guesswork and imagination to picture prehistoric life.