Museum of Natural Sciences
The Museum of Natural Sciences of Belgium is a Brussels museum dedicated to natural history. It is a part of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.
Entrance to the Museum of Natural Sciences
Louis Dollo supervising the mounting of an Iguanodon skeleton, c. 1882–1885
Mounted Iguanodon skeletons in the Dinosaur Hall
Dinosaur skeleton
Iguanodon, named in 1825, is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur. While many species found worldwide have been classified in the genus Iguanodon, dating from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, taxonomic revision in the early 21st century has defined Iguanodon to be based on one well-substantiated species: I. bernissartensis, which lived during the Barremian to early Aptian ages of the Early Cretaceous in Belgium, Germany, England, and Spain, between about 126 and 122 million years ago. Iguanodon was a large, bulky herbivore, measuring up to 9–11 metres (30–36 ft) in length and 4.5 metric tons in body mass. Distinctive features include large thumb spikes, which were possibly used for defense against predators, combined with long prehensile fifth fingers able to forage for food.
Iguanodon
The original I. anglicus teeth from Mantell's 1825 paper
Mantell's "Iguanodon" restoration based on the Maidstone Mantellodon remains
Fossil iguanodont remains found in Maidstone in 1834, now classified as Mantellisaurus