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Iguanodon

Iguanodon bernissartensis

The Bernissart discovery transformed dinosaur research by making dozens of almost complete skeletons available.

Image: Ben2 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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Characteristics

Scientific name: Iguanodon bernissartensis
Period: Early Cretaceous (Barremian)
Lived: 126–125 Ma (126 million years ago)
Diet: Herbivore
Habitat: Forest, Coast
Length (estimate): 10 m
Mass (estimate): 3,500 kg
Discovered/described: 1822 · Gideon Mantell; the Bernissart skeletons were excavated by miners in 1878

Description

Iguanodon was a large ornithopod with a broad beak, grinding teeth and a distinctive thumb spike. It could probably walk on either two or four legs and ate a wide range of plants. The nearly complete skeletons from the Bernissart coal mine allowed a much more reliable reconstruction than the isolated teeth found earlier. Its precise posture and locomotion were later revised following study of joints and footprints.

Habitat

Humid coastal plains and wooded river landscapes.

Fossil sites

Bernissart, Hainaut
Bernissart Formation
Cultural profile: Belgium →

Famous finds

Iconic fossil
The Bernissart Iguanodons
Iguanodon
Found in 1878 by miners at the Bernissart coal mine
Bernissart, Hainaut
Museum: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels
In 1878 miners came upon dozens of Iguanodon skeletons at a depth of 322 metres – the first complete skeletons of this dinosaur. The mounted specimens in Brussels shaped the world's picture of Iguanodon for decades.
Iguanodon →
Image: Aimé Rutot (museum curator in 1882, geologist) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Sources: Wikipedia: Bernissart · Wikipedia: Iguanodon

Contemporaries in the database

Sources: Iguanodon

Description

Habitat

Humid coastal plains and wooded river landscapes.

Famous finds

Iconic fossil

The Bernissart Iguanodons

Iguanodon

Found in 1878 by miners at the Bernissart coal mine

Bernissart, Hainaut

Museum: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels

In 1878 miners came upon dozens of Iguanodon skeletons at a depth of 322 metres – the first complete skeletons of this dinosaur. The mounted specimens in Brussels shaped the world's picture of Iguanodon for decades.

Iguanodon →

Image: Aimé Rutot (museum curator in 1882, geologist) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Sources: Wikipedia: Bernissart · Wikipedia: Iguanodon