Iguanodon Temporal range: Early Cretaceous | |
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A restoration of Iguanodon bernissartensis | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Sauropsida |
Superorder: | Ornithopodomorpha |
Family: | †Iguanodontidae |
Genus: | †Iguanodon Mantell, 1825 |
Type species | |
†Iguanodon bernissartensis Boulenger, 1881 | |
Referred species | |
Synonyms | |
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Iguanodon (i·guan·o·don) is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived from about 139-138 million years ago, from the early to late Cretaceous period. Iguanodon was the second dinosaur ever discovered and it was one of the first dinosaurs to be named, preceded only by Megalosaurus. Iguanodon's name means "iguana tooth" due to its iguana-like teeth. It was the largest of its kind.
It lived in Antartica, North Africa, Mongolia and Europe, mainly in England in the UK and Belgium.
Paleobiology

An Iguanodon Skeleton
One of the more notable characteristics of the Iguanodon species is its "thumbs". Instead of a thumb it had a large spike that paleontologists believed Iguanodons used for defensive purposes, but could have also been used for getting food. The "pinky" finger of an Iguanodon is believed to have acted as its thumb.

Iguanodon size

Aladar from Disney's Dinosaur
Popular Culture

Dakotadon The North American Iguanodon in Walking with Dinosaurs
- Iguanodon has been in several dinosaur-related merchandise. It was in the famous Walking with Dinosaurs series, and was shown to have travelled in herds with Polacanthus travelling alongside it, in North America. The herd was later attacked by a pack of Utahraptor, in England and one of them was killed in the process.
- An Animated Skeleton of Iguanodon was Featured in one of the 4 episodes of the 1992 4 part PBS Documentary The Dinosaurs! Which was seen in the 1st episode "The Monsters Emerge." Where the Skeleton of Iguanodon was changing it's position & posture, Then it started to walk.
- An Iguanodon named Aladar who was raised by lemurs was the main character in Dinosaur and was attacked by a Carnotaurus and a pack of Velociraptor while a herd iguanodon name Chris Callum trying to get to a nesting ground valley. Other Iguanodons in the movie was a female who later became Aladar's mate named Neera her brother named Kron the main antagonist, and the anti-hero named Bruton and the mother name Jitney

Old-Fashioned Iguanodon Statues in Crystal Palace Park
- Iguanodon is one of the statues of dinosaurs in the Crystal Gardens in England.
- It also featured in an episode of Dinosaur Planet, where they were attacked by Pyroraptor, Tarascosaurus, and their dwarf forms on the Hateg island. It was not actually an Iguanodon but another species of its kind - Rhabdodon.
- An Iguanodon named Iggy appeared in a few episodes of Dinosaur Train.
- Iguanodon was seen in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur. Both Movie & Video Game.
- A Skeleton of Iguanodon was featured in David Attenborough's Natural History Museum Alive.
- It appears in Jurassic Park III: Park Builder.
- It appears in Jurassic Park: Builder where while it has cheeks, it lacks its classic thumb claw and the headshape is a bit off.
- Iguanodon was planned to appear in the game Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis. For unknown reasons, the development of Iguanodon was terminated. The CD-ROM contains two files containing the parameters of the dinosaur.
- Iguanodon will be in Jurassic World: Alive.
- In Papua New Guinea, people have said a few remaining living Iguanodon-like dinosaurs are still alive today, but there is no evidence to confirm its existence.