Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis
- Length
- 5 m (16.4 ft)
- Period
- Early Cretaceous (130–120 Mya)
- Place
- Europe · Germany · Spain · United Kingdom
- Food
- Herbivore
- Clade
- Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.
Mantellisaurus is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur that lived in the Barremian and early Aptian ages of the Early Cretaceous Period of Europe. Its remains are known from Belgium (Bernissart), England, Spain and Germany. The type and only species is M. atherfieldensis. Formerly known as Iguanodon atherfieldensis, the new genus Mantellisaurus was erected for the species by Gregory Paul in 2007. According to Paul, Mantellisaurus was more lightly built than Iguanodon and more closely related to Ouranosaurus, making Iguanodon in its traditional sense paraphyletic. It is known from many complete and almost complete skeletons. The genus name honours Gideon Mantell, the discoverer of Iguanodon.
What we know
- Named by (Hooley, 1925).
- Fossils found in Europe and Germany.
What we guess
The reconstruction notes for Mantellisaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.