Abstract
Recent discoveries of diverse iguanodonts throughout the Cedar Mountain Formation (Utah, USA) have led us to assess the global diversity of Early Cretaceous iguanodonts. The record in England is more diverse than previously recognized due to Iguanodon being a wastebasket genus throughout the Twentieth Century. Several new taxa, previously recognized as generically distinct by Harry Grovier Seeley, are named. The spatial and temporal distributions of iguanodonts are plotted on global maps as a key to understanding the origin of the Cedar Mountain Formation iguanodonts.
Highlights
Fieldwork lead by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science in the Lower Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of eastern Utah, USA, has produced several taxonomically distinct iguanodont specimens at different stratigraphic levels
If anything Paul (2008) did not go far enough because it is clear that Early Cretaceous iguanodontid genera were far more diverse than generally realized, as shown by Cedar Mountain discoveries, and that the genus Iguanodon is a waste-basket of medium to large ornithopods
Key among the specimens available to these paleontologists was the discovery of the Maidstone Iguanodon specimen in 1834, which proved the benchmark for understanding all subsequent discoveries of ornithopods during the 1800s
Summary
Fieldwork lead by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science in the Lower Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of eastern Utah, USA, has produced several taxonomically distinct iguanodont (sensu Butler et al 2008) specimens at different stratigraphic levels. The ornithopods of the Cedar Mountain Formation include five named taxa, Tenontosaurus sp., Eolambia caroljonesa, Planicoxa venenica, Cedrorestes crichtoni, and the nomen dubium Iguanodon ottingeri (Galton and Jensen, 1979; Kirkland et al, 1997; Kirkland 1998; Dicroce and Carpenter 2001; Gilpin et al, 2006). This diversity will increase as several new taxa are described from the Yellow Cat, Poison Strip, Ruby Ranch, and Mussentuchit members (Kirkland and Madsen 2007; Poole 2008; Ishida, 2009). USNM - United States National Museum ( the National Museum of Natural History), Washington D.C., USA
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
