Mantellisaurus

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Mantellisaurus

Extinct (fossil)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Ornithischia
Suborder:	Ornithopoda
Infraorder:	Iguanodontia
Family:	Iguanodontidae
Genus:	Mantellisaurus Paul, 2006

Species

Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis (Hooley, 1925) (type species)

Synonyms

Iguanodon atherfieldensis Hooley, 1925
?Heterosaurus Cornuel, 1850
?Sphenospondylus Lydekker, 1888
?Vectisaurus Hulke, 1879
?Cetiosaurus brachyurus Owen, 1842
?Heterosaurus neocombiensis Cornuel, 1850
?Sphenospondylus gracilis Lydekker, 1888
?Vectisaurus valdensis Hulke, 1879

Mantellisaurus is a recently described genus of dinosaur formerly known as Iguanodon atherfieldensis. The new genus was erected by Gregory Paul in 2006. According to Paul, it is more lightly built than Iguanodon. It is known from many complete and almost complete skeletons. The genus name honours Gideon Mantell, the discoverer of Iguanodon. Mantellisaurus lived during the Early Cretaceous in what is now England.

The type fossil was originally discovered by Reginald Hooley in 1917 in southern England. He named it Iguanodon atherfieldensis. Atherfield is the name of a village on the southwest shore of the Isle of Wight where the fossil was found.

*Note: Heterosaurus, Sphenospondylus, and Vectisaurus may or not be synonyms of Mantellisaurus, because Paul (2006) did not address the status of each of these names.

[edit] Reference

Paul, G. S. 2006. Turning the old into the new: a separate genus for the gracile iguanodont from the Wealden of England; pp. 69-77 in K. Carpenter (ed.), Horns and Beaks: Ceratopsian and Ornithopod Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.