In 1863, the son of the ichnologist Edward Hitchcock, Edward Hitchcock Jr, described the Springfield remains in a supplement to his father's work on fossil footprints, suggesting they could explain a certain mysterious kind of reptile tracks. He then contacted the British paleontologist Richard Owen. Owen advised him to name the finds as a new genus. Owen suggested the name "Megadactylus", "large finger" in Greek, in reference to the enormous thumb of the animal. Hitchcock Jr himself then chose the specific name "polyzelus", "much sought for" in Greek, referring to the fact that his father had for many years vainly sought to discover the identity of the track-maker.