Distribution:
Iguanodon lived in what is modern day Belgium and the surrounding areas of Europe.
Time Period:
They lived during the early Cretaceous period from 126-125 million years ago. The Cretaceous period was the third and final part of the Mesozoic Era. Until this this time all modern-day continents were fused into one super continent called Pangaea. Although Pangaea had already begun to separate during the Triassic and Jurassic periods, the Cretaceous period witnessed this super continent separate across the Earth’s surface. The change caused the planet’s climate to slowly cool and the continents and oceans familiar to us today first started to take form. However, by the end of the period all dinosaurs had perished into mass extinction due to an asteroid hitting Earth.
Size:
Iguanodon reached an average of 10 meters (33ft) in length and 4 meters (14ft) in height, weighing around 3.4 metric tons.
Diet:
These dinosaurs were herbivores.
Interesting facts:
Iguanodon gets its name from the fact that its teeth are very similar to those of the modern-day iguanas, only much larger! It was first discovered on the Southeast coast of England and was one of the first three dinosaurs to ever be discovered. This makes it one of the most common dinosaurs to be used in drawings and films. When it was first discovered people thought that it would have stood on it’s strong hind legs like a kangaroo, but now experts believe it walked on all four legs with its tail raised in the air helping them to balance and walking on only their hind legs occasionally. They had a five fingered hand made up of three middle fingers, a flexible grasping finger on one side and a large spiked thumb on the other. This mostly would have been used to defend itself but may also have helped with foraging.