Iguanodon

Iguanodon bernissartensis★★★★☆
Exhibit
Exhibit Crowding	75%
Temperature	8-36 °C
Fence Security	Strength Medium > 2.5m
Exhibit
Plant Biomes
Forest	35-60%
Water	15-40%
Social
Group Size	1-2 Males 2-8 Females
Diet
Plants
Creation
Breeding Cost	$23,199 Fully Grown
Digsites
Digsites	Wessex Formation

Iguanodon is a large herbivorous ornithopod that lived in Europe during the Early Cretaceous.

There are three species of Iguanodon with the type species I. bernissartensis representing the genus in Prehistoric Kingdom.

In-Game

Description

Iguanodon is a large and bulky ornithopod famously known for its large thumb spikes on each forelimb. More then capable of fighting back, Iguanodon was known to use its spikes in combat, as well as its impressive size and weight. Iguanodon's forelimbs were notably stiff, owing to their use as weapons and as a method of locomotion, but also featured a flexible, grasping finger, functioning similar to a thumb.

In Prehistoric Kingdom, Iguanodon's defensive capabilities are bolstered by speculative strings of large feature scales across its back and sides. Although smaller than most of the hadrosaurs in-game, Iguanodon is still a decently large animal.

Management

To be announced.

In-Game Trivia

Nigel Marven

Iguanodon, one of the first dinosaurs to be formally named…

Nigel Marven

This creature's restorations weren't always perfect, though. See those thumb spikes? They were once thought to be nasal horns, sort of like an iguana's. Very wrong, of course… but A+ for name inspiration.

Nigel Marven

Iguanodon is also one of the first dinosaurs to be sculpted! The original sculptures can still be seen in Crystal Palace Park in London. The artist behind the sculptures, Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, famously hosted an 8-course dinner inside one of the incomplete sculptures on New Years Eve, 1853! How's that for a party?

Nigel Marven

Reconstructions of this animal have changed dramatically over the years, from a giant, rhinoceros-like reptilian beast to the beautiful animal you see before you. It really makes you wonder, what will paleontologists discover next to fundamentally change the way we view other dinosaurs?

Paleontology

Iguanodon was one of the first dinosaurs to be formally discovered and thus named, making it a historically significant animal. The first few fossils of Iguanodon were found in southern England and were rather scattered with the thumb spike originally believed to be a horn. It was only after over 30 complete skeletons were found in a Belgian mine that the dinosaur's true shape was revealed.

Many species of Iguanodon were named in the 1800s in North America, Asia, North Africa and eastern Europe, but these have since been reassigned to new genera, leaving those found in western Europe (the UK, Spain and Belgium) as the only valid Iguanodon species.

Iguanodon was named in 1825 and its name means "Iguana Tooth". The specific name of I. bernissartensis refers to the location in Belgium where so many well-preserved specimens were found in an ancient sinkhole.

Paleoecology

Iguanodon was a large herbivorous hadrosauriform related to animals such as Ouranosaurus. It is likely that its massive thumb spike was used in intraspecific combat not unlike that seen in modern roosters.

Gallery

• Development
• Screenshots

Website render of Iguanodon.

A herd of Iguanodon in a misty wetland, as seen in the April 2021 Devlog.

An Iguanadon drinking from a pond, as seen in the March 2022 Devlog.

An Iguanadon walking around a forest, as seen in the March 2022 Devlog.

Iguanodon Species Profile, as seen in the October 2019 Devlog.

Iguanodon walk animation, as seen in the March 2020 Devlog.

Iguanodon run animation, as seen in the March 2020 Devlog.

Render of the Rusty Quartz skin for the original Iguanodon.

Render of the Burian skin for the original Iguanodon.

Render of the Coastal skin for the original Iguanodon.

Lineup of all of Iguanodon's original skins.

Concept art for the original Iguanodon model.

Trivia

• Iguanodon alongside Styracosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Pachyrhinosaurus and Velociraptor appeared in the 2000 Disney film Dinosaur. The protagonist is an Iguanodon called Aladar.
• Thanks to the spectacular fossil beds of Bernissart in Belgium the complete skeletons give us remarkable insight not just into how these animals looked and moved, but also how they lived. It is thought that the fossil beds represent herds of Iguanodon succumbing to poisonous gasses released periodically from a water source. This is reflected in game by Iguanodon's high exhibit crowding tolerance stat.
• Those same fossils, however, are deeply susceptible to pyrite decay due to the chemistry of their fossilization, and must be kept in oxygen-free glass cases on display in order to not dissolve from oxidation.
• The "Burian" skin references a famous painting of Iguanodon by Czech Paleoartist Zdeněk Burian.