Mantellisaurus

Mantell's lizard

• Mantelli · Latinised surname · of Gideon Mantell, the English geologist and palaeontologist
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name honours Gideon Mantell, the English palaeontologist who helped discover and describe Iguanodon and other early dinosaurs. It is combined with the Greek "sauros" (lizard) to mean "Mantell's lizard". The genus was named for the species originally called Iguanodon atherfieldensis, which was moved to its own genus.

Named by

Paul

Year named

2007

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stages

Barremian – Aptian

Found in

Wessex Formation (Isle of Wight) and Vectis/Atherfield beds, southern England; possibly also Belgium and Germany

An iguanodontian ornithopod. The type species is Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis, originally described as Iguanodon atherfieldensis by Hooley in 1925. Gregory S. Paul gave it its own genus in 2007. Some specimens from Bernissart, Belgium, once assigned to Iguanodon, have been referred to this genus. The exact stages and localities are less certain than the rest of the entry.