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beaked plant-eater
Iguanodon
Say it like this: “i-GWAH-nuh-don”
Iguanodon bernissartensis
Iguanodon ate plants and walked on two or four legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Belgium.
- When
- Early Cretaceous (Barremian · Aptian) · roughly 125.8 to 113.2 million years ago
- Named in
- 1825 · Mantell, G.
- Hip height
- 2.2 m · 7 ft
- Length
- 8–10 m · 26–33 ft
- Weight
- 3–4 tonnes
- Found in
- Belgium · Sainte-Barbe Clays
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Two or four legs
- Kind
- beaked plant-eater · Ornithopod
- Family branch
- Hadrosauriformes
The story in short
The genus Iguanodon dates to 1825, the year G. Mantell described it. The name means “iguana tooth.”
Fossils referred to Iguanodon date to the Early Cretaceous (Barremian · Aptian), roughly 125.8 to 113.2 million years ago. Finds come from Belgium, including the Sainte-Barbe Clays Formation. It was a herbivore and could move on two or four legs.
Published estimates put Iguanodon at a length near 8–10 m, hips about 2.2 m high, and a body mass around 3–4 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Hadrosauriformes, among the ornithopod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Barilium
Barilium dawsoni
Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) · roughly 137.1 to 132.6 million years ago
Brighstoneus
Brighstoneus simmondsi
Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
Comptonatus
Comptonatus chasei
Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago