Maidstone Skeleton, Fossil Iguanodon, 1834

Fossil iguanodont remains classified as Mantelldon. A more complete specimen of similar animal was discovered in a quarry in Maidstone, Kent, in 1834 (lower Lower Greensand Formation), which Mantell soon acquired. He was led to identify it as an Iguanodon based on its distinctive teeth. The Maidstone slab was utilized in the first skeletal reconstructions and artistic renderings of Iguanodon, but due to its incompleteness, Mantell made some mistakes, the most famous of which was the placement of what he thought was a horn on the nose. The discovery of much better specimens in later years revealed that the horn was actually a modified thumb. Still encased in rock, the Maidstone skeleton is currently displayed at the Natural History Museum in London

Picture No

12697586

Media ID

47706015

Size

2995px x 4650px (4.6MB)

Credit

Science Source/Mary Evans