Mantellodon

Mantellodon Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Early Aptian PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Lithograph of the type specimen
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	†Ornithischia
Suborder:	†Ornithopoda
Clade:	†Styracosterna
Genus:	†Mantellodon Paul, 2012
Species
Mantellodon carpenteri Paul, 2012 (type)

Mantellodon (meaning "Gideon Mantell's tooth") is a genus of styracosternan ornithopod. The type species is Mantellodon carpenteri. The holotype specimen is NHMUK R3741 consisting of a partial associated postcranial skeleton. It was formerly referred to Iguanodon.

The type specimen of M. carpenteri was discovered in a quarry in Maidstone, Kent, owned by William Harding Benstead, in February 1834 (lower Lower Greensand Formation). In June 1834 it was acquired for £ 25 by scientist Gideon Mantell. He was led to identify it as an Iguanodon based on its distinctive teeth. The Maidstone slab was utilized in the first skeletal reconstructions and artistic renderings of Iguanodon, but due to its incompleteness, Mantell made some mistakes, the most famous of which was the placement of what he thought was a horn on the nose. The discovery of much better specimens of Iguanodon bernissartensis in later years revealed that the horn was actually a modified thumb. Still encased in rock, the Maidstone skeleton is currently displayed at the Natural History Museum in London. The borough of Maidstone commemorated this find by adding an Iguanodon as a supporter to their coat of arms in 1949. This specimen has become linked with the name I. mantelli, a species named in 1832 by Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer in place of I. anglicus, but it actually comes from a different formation than the original I. mantelli/I. anglicus material. The Maidstone specimen, also known as Gideon Mantell's "Mantel-piece", and formally labelled NHMUK 3741 was subsequently excluded from Iguanodon. It is classified as cf. Mantellisaurus by McDonald (2012); as cf. Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis by Norman (2012); and made the holotype of a separate genus and species Mantellodon carpenteri by Gregory S. Paul (2012). The generic name combines Mantell's name with a Greek odon, "tooth", analogous to Iguanodon. The specific name honours Kenneth Carpenter for his work on dinosaurs in general and iguandonts in particular.