Iguanodon bernissartensis

Iguanodon, an iguanodontid from the Early Cretaceous of Europe, was one of the first dinosaurs to be named, and also one of the original three species (along with Megalosaurus and Hylaeosaurus) used by Sir Richard Owen when he named Dinosauria back in 1842. Unfortunately the original teeth and bone scraps named Iguanodon were not diagnostic, and over the last two hundred years many skeletons (and species) were referred to Iguanodon, creating a large “waste-basket” mess that needed to be sorted out. An ICZN ruling in 2000 set the type species as Iguanodon bernissartensis, specifically specimen IRSNB 1534. This means we know Iguanodon from dozens of skeletons found in a Belgian coal mine at Bernissart. Iguanodon was a surprisingly robust animal, with giant, powerful forelimbs used for walking, and each hand bore a distinctive conical thumb spike, which may have been used for display and intra-species combat, opening or breaking apart stubborn plant material, or perhaps as a last-ditch line of defense against predators.