#Sainte-Barbe Clays Formation

[saritapaleo]

Archovember 2024 Day 30 - Iguanodon bernissartensis

Our final species for Archovember is Iguanodon bernissartensis! As one of the more famous dinosaurs, Iguanodon is known for being one of the first dinosaurs to recieve a life-sized model, while now outdated and with the thumb spike placed on its nose. This has made Iguanodon a public example of how our scientific advances have improved our understanding of these ancient animals.

A very successful species in life, Iguanodon bernissartensis lived from the Late Jurassic all the way into the Early Cretaceous. Remains have been found in Belgium, Germany, England, and Spain. It is the type species of its own family of ornithopods: the Iguanodontids. They were large, bulky, muscular animals that could shift between quadrupedality to bipedality when needed, but were probably more quadrupedal as they got older and heavier. Their long arms supported conical thumb-spikes that could have been used for defense and/or for foraging. It used its cropping beak and grinding teeth for chewing up tough plant matter. Its long outer fingers were flexible, and may have aided in grabbing onto food as well.

Due to its wide range across Europe and across eons, Iguanodon bernissartensis would have lived alongside a variety of different species in different time periods and habitats. Formations where it has been found include the Sainte-Barbe Clays Formation, the Arcillas de Morella Formation, and the Wessex Formation. In Early Cretaceous Europe, it would have lived alongside fellow iguanodonts like Mantellisaurus and Valdosaurus. Other ornithischians included ornithopods like Morelladon, ankylosaurs like Polacanthus and Vectipelta, and smaller ornithischians like Hypsilophodon and Vectidromeus. It would have also come across sauropods like Garumbatitan, Oplosaurus, Eucamerotus, and Ornithopsis, spinosaurids like Protathlitis, Vallibonavenatrix, Ceratosuchops, and Riparovenator, other carnosaurs like Altispinax and Neovenator, compsognathids like Aristosuchus, and dromaeosaurids like Ornithodesmus and Vectiraptor. Iguanodon would have also shared Early Cretaceous Europe with pterosaurs like Coloborhynchus and pseudosuchians like Anteophthalmosuchus and Bernissartia.

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