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Gideon Mantell and the Maidstone Iguanodon

1951; Royal Society; Volume: 8; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1098/rsnr.1951.0020

1743-0178

William Swinton,

Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

The name Iguanodon was first given publication in a letter from Gideon Mantell, F.R.S., to his friend Davies Gilbert, M.P., V.P.R.S., 1 printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1825. 2 The specimens upon which this name was founded were more or less worn teeth which Mrs Mantell had collected in the spring of 1822. Some of these teeth are referred to in The Fossils o f the South Downs , 3 published in May 1822, as being of ‘unknown animals.’ This suggests that the teeth were found early in the year as stated by Mantell and not in the summer as has been published by Sidney Spokes. 4 Most of the teeth found by Mrs Mantell and figured in 1825 have been reddentified in the collections of the British Museum (Natural History) and are now on exhibition in the Geological Department of the Museum. Examination shows that those which are specifically identifiable are all referable to the species subsequently named Iguanodon mantelli . A t their original description no specific name was, however, applied, and it is open to serious question whether the name , derived from the similarity of the teeth and those of the living Iguana , was ever valid. This would seem an instance in which the mercies of the International Commission’s rule 46 might well be held to apply, to keep in use an ancient and much-used name.