User:Rileyleff/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Iguanodontidae is a family of iguanodontians belonging to Styracosterna, a derived clade within Ankylopollexia. Some evidence dates the origination of Iguanodontidae to approximately 200 million years ago during the Jurassic Period in North America.[1] The most recent iguanodontid fossils have been dated to approximately 65 million years ago, which temporally corresponds with the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.[2][3] Iguanodontids were most prevalent during the Early Cretaceous Period, and became widely distributed during this time.[4]
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | †Ornithischia |
Clade: | †Ornithopoda |
Clade: | †Hadrosauriformes |
Family: | †Iguanodontidae Huxley, 1870 |
Subgroups | |
Iguanodontids, characterized by their elongated maxillae, were herbivorous and typically large in size.[4] This family exhibited locomotive dynamism; there exists evidence for both bipedalism and quadrupedalism within iguanodontid species, supporting the idea that individual organisms were capable of both locomoting exclusively with their hind limbs and locomoting quadrupedally.[5] Iguanodontids possess hoof-like second, third, and fourth digits, and in some cases, a specialized thumb spike and an opposable fifth digit.[6] Their skull construction allows for a strong chewing mechanism called a transverse power stroke.[7] This, paired with their bilateral dental occlusion, made them extremely effective as herbivores.[8] Members of Iguanodontidae are thought to have had a diet that consisted of both gymnosperms and angiosperms, the latter of which co-evolved with the iguanodontids in the Cretaceous period.[9]
There is no consensus on the phylogeny of Iguanodontidae. Iguanodontidae is most frequently characterized as paraphyletic with respect to Hadrosauridae, although some researchers advocate for a monophyletic view of the family.[10][4] Additionally, some analyses have supported a reduction of the number of constituent genera within Iguanodontidae.[11]