Maidstone Iguanodont Renamed

[DD1991]

As you are no doubt aware, the famous Maidstone iguanodont (NHMUK R.3741) has been christened Mantellodon carpenteri by Paul (2012). For more information on why Mantellodon is distinct from Mantellisaurus, see the following citation:

Gregory S. Paul (2012). "Notes on the rising diversity of iguanodont taxa, and iguanodonts named after Darwin, Huxley and evolutionary science". Actas de V Jornadas Internacionales sobre Paleontologia de Dinosaurios y su Entorno, Salas de los Infantes, Burgos. Colectivo Arqeologico-Paleontologico de Salas de los Infantes (Burgos). pp. 121–131.

The recognition of NHMUK R.3741 as a new genus and species of iguanodont is the final chapter in the taxonomic saga of the Maidstone iguanodont. Given that Mantellodon was found in marine limestone and the limestone itself was hard, the quarrymen who found the specimen could have just refrained from using dynamite to uncover the specimen because dynamite can destroy parts of a skeleton.

When considering the possibility that the Maidstone iguanodont might be a distinct iguanodont, Carpenter and Ishida (2010) mistakenly referred the specimen to Iguanodon mantelli without knowing that NHMUK R.3741 had been discovered two years after I. mantelli was named and hence was ineligible to be treated as the type specimen of I. mantelli. I'm very glad that Paul recognized the erroneous statements in Carpenter and Ishida (2010). Indeed, I was curious to see the paper coining the binomial Mantellodon carpenteri because the type horizon for Mantellodon carpenteri (Hythe Formation*) is about the same age as the Spanish form Proa valdearinnoensis, shedding some light on the evolution of European iguanodonts at the late Aptian-early Albian boundary.

Anyone in the UK who's interested in early dino discoveries in Europe should wake up to the fact that the Maidstone iguanodont is distinct from other British iguanodonts. As for the prospects of finding additional dinos in the Hythe Formation, they could yield articulated partial skeletons because of the taphonomy of the Hythe Formation (erosion-resistant limestone).

*The Hythe Formation is one of four members of the Lower Greensand Group in southern England and overlies the Atherfield Clay Formation (the lowermost member of the Lower Greensand Group). Therefore, the Hythe Formation is a bit older than known remains of Mantellisaurus and so Paul's separation of Mantellodon from Mantellisaurus appears justified.