Le centenaire des iguanodons (1822-1922)

Abstract

1.—II y a, maintenant, un siècle (1822-1922) que les Iguanodons ont été découverts, pour la premiere fois, en Angleterre: “The discovery of the teeth and other remains of a non-descript herbivorous reptile, in the strata of Tilgate Forest, a reptile” encore plus extraordinaire que tous ceux dont nous avons connoissance, “is, to us, one of the most gratifying results of our labours. The first specimens of the teeth were found by Mrs. Mantell, in the coarse conglomerate of the Forest, in the spring of 1822; and we have, subsequently, collected a most interesting series, displaying every gradation of form, from the perfect tooth in the young animal, to the last stage, that of a mere bony stump, worn away by mastication.” 2.—Peu de temps après cette découverte, le genre Iguanodon fut fondé, par Mantell, dans les Philosophical Transactions (1825): “ . . . in either case the term Iguanodon, derived from the form of the teeth (and which I have adopted at the suggestion of the Rev. W. Conybeare), will not, it is presumed, be deemed objectionable.”