DinoFact
Iguanodon Facts
Iguanodon was a large plant-eater with a spiky thumb, and one of the very first dinosaurs ever discovered and named.
- Iguanodon had a distinctive spike on its thumb, originally mistaken for a nose horn.
- Iguanodon was one of the first dinosaurs ever described, in 1825.
- The Early Cretaceous herbivore Iguanodon ('iguana tooth') lived in what is now Europe — had conical spikes on its thumbs.
- The Early Cretaceous herbivore Mantellisaurus ('Mantell's lizard') lived in what is now Europe — a slender relative of Iguanodon.
- Bolong (meaning 'Bo's dragon') was a herbivore that lived during the Early Cretaceous in what is now China — an early iguanodont.
- Ratchasimasaurus (meaning 'Ratchasima lizard') was a herbivore that lived during the Early Cretaceous in what is now Thailand — a Thai iguanodont.
- Sirindhorna, whose name means 'for Princess Sirindhorn', roamed Thailand during the Early Cretaceous; it was a herbivore — a Thai iguanodont.
- Fukuisaurus means 'Fukui lizard'. It was a Early Cretaceous herbivore from Japan — a Japanese iguanodont.
- Iguanodon means 'iguana tooth'.
- Iguanodon had a spiky thumb.
- Iguanodon's thumb spike was once thought to sit on its nose.
- Iguanodon had a sharp thumb spike for defence.
- Iguanodon's conical thumb spike was once mistakenly placed on the tip of its nose.
- The first Iguanodon teeth were described by Gideon and Mary Ann Mantell in the 1820s.
- Iguanodon was a herbivore ornithopod from the Early Cretaceous.
- The name Iguanodon means 'iguana tooth'.
- Fossils of Iguanodon have been found in Europe.
- Iguanodon lived during the Early Cretaceous in what is now Europe.
- Ornithopods include the iguanodontians and the duck-billed hadrosaurs.
- Iguanodontians evolved efficient chewing before the hadrosaurs perfected it.
- Gideon Mantell helped recognise Iguanodon as a giant extinct reptile.
- Gideon Mantell's work on Iguanodon helped establish dinosaurs as giant extinct reptiles.