Iguanodon
genus of iguanodontian dinosaur (fossil) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Iguanodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous period in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia. It lived 125/126 million years ago (mya).[1]
Iguanodon Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous | |
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Iguanodon mounted in a quadrupedal posture. Brussels | |
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Superfamily: | Cope, 1869 |
Family: | Iguanodontidae Cope, 1869 |
Genus: | Iguanodon |
Discovered in 1822 and described three years later by English geologist Gideon Mantell, Iguanodon was the second dinosaur formally named, after Megalosaurus. Together with Megalosaurus and Hylaeosaurus, it was one of the three genera originally used to define the Dinosauria.
A large, bulky herbivore, Iguanodon is thought by some to be in the same family as the duck-billed hadrosaurs. The taxonomy of the genus continues to be a topic of study as new species are named or long-standing ones reassigned to other genera.
Scientific understanding of Iguanodon has evolved over time. New information is got from the fossils. Researchers have made suggestions about the living animal, including feeding, movement, and social behaviour. As one of the first scientifically known dinosaurs, Iguanodon is well known.[2]