Search the Community

An Iguanodont dinosaur called Mantellisaurus found in The Isle of Wight looks like is getting reassembled and may have a new home. Check out the video in the article http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-hampshire-38666085/isle-of-wight-fossilised-dinosaur-skeleton-assembled

Scientists have just reported a new genus and species of sail-backed iguanodont from the Early Cretaceous of Spain: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-science-dinosaur-idUSKBN0TZ2UP20151216 The discovery of Morelladon isn't the first time a sail-backed iguanodont has been reported from Spain. A slightly older iguanodont from Spain had been reported in the 1990s, but it wasn't until 2011 that it was fully described in detail. Due to the discovery of Delapparentia (which is distinct from Iguanodon and Mantellisaurus specimens from Spain), it's now clear that more than two iguanodont species lived in Spain during the Barremian. Morelladon further illuminates the evolution of iguanodonts in Europe during the Cretaceous by showing that a handful of European iguanodonts had sails like Ouranosaurus. It's kind of interesting how some iguanodonts have names ending with -don, as in Owenodon, Mantellodon, and Dakotadon, and others don't, like Mantellisaurus, Hypselospinus, and Barilium.