- Born
- Died
- Birth nameGideon Algernon Mantell
- Gideon Mantell was born on February 3, 1790 in Lewes, Sussex, England, UK. He was married to Mary Ann Mantell. He died on November 10, 1852 in London, England, UK.
- SpouseMary Ann Mantell(May 4, 1816 - March 4, 1839) (divorced, 3 children)
- In the 1820s, Gideon Mantell discovered, named and described the second dinosaur known to science: Iguanodon. He thought of the animal as a gigantic (close to 20 meter long), elongated iguana with a horn on its nose. Mantel had something of a feud with paleontologist Richard Owen, who imagined Iguanodon more as a pachyderm and depicted it with mammalian traits. Mantell's image of the animal appeared in numerous books, but Owen's version gained wider publicity thanks to the life-sized sculptures unveiled at London's Crystal Palace Park. While Mantell realized Owen was incorrect in depicting the dinosaur, he passed away before making his views public. Later findings showed the creature looked completely different than either scientist had imagined, and the name Iguanodon was officially transferred to more complete and better preserved fossils discovered in Belgium. The original Iguanodon teeth found by Mantell were categorized under the name Therosaurus, and in honor of Mantell, other dinosaur fossils he had regarded as Iguanodon were later rechristened to Mantellodon.
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