Iguanodon

The Iguanodon is a dinosaur that could walk on all fours or two legs. It is a herbivore and has a large thumb spike to fend off predators. It has a beak-like mouth and the front of its mouth is toothless. The Iguanodon was the second dinosaur dinosaur to receive a name. It belonged to the dinosaur classification Ornithopoda. The Iguanodon were ancestors to duck billed dinosaurs but are only distantly related to Iguanas. Iguanodons lived in the Early Cretaceous period which is 110- 140 million years ago.

Discovery

The Iguanodon was found in England, United Kingdom, Germany, USA, Spain and Belgium. The largest collection of Iguanodon fossils were found in a Belgian coal mine and more than 30 Iguanodon fossils were found there. The discovery helped scientists develop a better understanding of the Iguanodon. Its body was only sorted out after 50 years of discovery because it was mistaken as a fish. People discover mass graves of Iguanodons too, which means that they lived in groups.

Size

The length of an Iguanodon is 10-12 m and it weighs 4000- 5000 kilograms. It has a long tail and thin skull in its body. Its huge size meant that it could not run fast. It was said that it could only run up to 14 miles per hour.

Teeth

The meaning of Iguanodon is iguana tooth. The Iguanodon has a chewing cheek teeth. Two of the first Iguanodon teeth were found in Sussex, England.

Sources

1. “Iguanodon facts for kids” (Feb 6 ). Science Kids. Retrieved 2015-5-18.
2. “Iguanodon” (Feb 9). The Dino Directory. Retrieved 2015-5-18.
3. “Iguanodon Facts for Kids ” (March 5). Fun Facts for Kids. Retrieved 2015-5-25.

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