Book description
In 1878, the first complete dinosaur skeleton was discovered in a
coal mine in Bernissart, Belgium. Iguanodon, first described by Gideon
Mantell on the basis of fragments discovered in England in 1824, was
initially reconstructed as an iguana-like reptile or a heavily built,
horned quadruped. However, the Bernissart skeleton changed all that.
The animal was displayed in an upright posture similar to a kangaroo,
and later with its tail off the ground like the dinosaur we know of
today. Focusing on the Bernissant discoveries, this book presents the
latest research on Iguanodon and other denizens of the Cretaceous
ecosystems of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Pascal Godefroit and
contributors consider the Bernissart locality itself and the new
research programs that are underway there. The book also presents a
systematic revision of Iguanodon; new material from Spain, Romania,
China, and Kazakhstan; studies of other Early Cretaceous terrestrial
ecosystems; and examinations of Cretaceous vertebrate faunas.
"The discovery of complete and articulated skeletons of
Iguanodon at Bernissart in 1878 revealed for the first time the
anatomy of dinosaurs... [and] broke the scientific, and the dinosaur
world wide open." -from the book
Pascal Godefroit is Professor of Paleontology at the Royal Belgian
Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels.
