#Gideon Mantell

[lindahall]

Gideon Mantell – Scientist of the Day

Gideon Mantell, an English surgeon and fossil collector, was born Feb. 3, 1790.

learn more

[iguanostalgia]

Happy (belated) 200th Birthday to Iguanodon! On February 10th, 1825, Iguanodon was scientifically described based on remains found by Mary Ann & Gideon Mantell. The posterchild of scientific change and the cultural trends of dinosaurs in artwork, Iguanodon is of course the inspiration of this very blog. Iguanodon was first mentioned in literature two months before its grand scientific debut, in a local newspaper:

“𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 (𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ’ 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑀𝑟. 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙’𝑠 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑒𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑥), ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐶𝑢𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑟, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑙 𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑑; 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒊𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒆��𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆. 𝑆𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒: 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐼𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝐵𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑠; 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ. 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝑴𝒓. 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒏𝒂-𝑫𝒐𝒏 (𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑎).” - 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝑻𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒙 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝑺𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒙, 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒚, 𝑫𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒔, 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡, 𝟏𝟖𝟐𝟒.

[earlypalaeoart]

"Gideon Mantell engaged in battle with fantastic flying dinosaurs on the English coastline", Edward Forbes, 1830s

[inkdragon1900]

Ianthe might be my fav character in the series.

Cause like. What is this girl thinking?

How the fuck is her fatal flaw putting others before herself???? Because on all accounts she should be selfish.

Like she’s got 99 insane qualities but selfishness isn’t one of them????

We literally learn in book one she nearly died in the womb from lack of oxygen due to Coronabeth which damn near sums up their relationship.

She pretends to be a weaker necromancer so she can make it look like her sister is one.

I’m like 90% sure Coronabeth killed Naberius to take up the mantel of Cavalier primary but Ianthe (like a semi normal person) ate him instead of her sister.

And she fucking consistently covers her sisters ass. She outright defends her. She literally stabs Harrow in the hand for implying her sister is probably dead.

Hell when duplicitous sluts 1 and 2 “kill” Jod damning the nine houses both she and Gideon are the only two in the room who care about the innocent lives.

THEN she literally risks her own ass diving after Augustine (who’s fighting Jod alligator wrangling style) all the way to the freaking bottom of the river™️ with the literal mouth of hell trying to drag people in.

She makes the actual right choice of saving Jod aka not dooming the solar system to sun death. (Which once again Jod 100% did not care about her that much she had built the best rapport with Augustine)

But meanwhile this bitch is actually insane and off putting in a malnourished French quarter vampire way.

Anyway TL;DR I love Ianthe Naberius Tridentarius I want to study her for science.

[ourstaturestouchtheskies]

An Account of the First Aërial Voyage in England – Vincent Lunardi // A Pictorial Atlas of Fossil Remains – Gideon Algernon Mantell, James Parkinson, Edmund Tyrell Artis // Potorous Platyops – John Gould // Thylacinus Cynocephalus, Juvenile – Joseph Wolf // Choeropus Castanotis – John Gould // Hippotragus Leucophaeus – Joseph Smit, Joseph Wolf // Hapalotis Albipipes – John Gould // Pyrenean Ibex – Richard Lydekker, Joseph Wolf // Eastern Elk – John James Audubon // Royigerygone Insularis – Gregory Macalister Matthews, Henrik Grönvold // Sceloglaux Albifacies – John Gerrard Keulemans // Leporillus Apicalis – John Gould // Columba Migratoria – John James Audubon, J. T. Bowen // Moho Apicalis – John Gerrard Keulmans // ...Familiar Place – Lucy Dacus

for @artists-ache 💙🌹 📖

[liesmyth]

best books you’ve read this year?

ooooh ty for asking! these are the books I gave 5 stars on GR to

A Free Man of Color, Barbara Hambly (and its sequel Fever Season)

Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (sequel to Wolf Hall)

A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome by Emma Souton

Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (reread)

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier

Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World by Elinor Cleghorn

They're a good mix of literary and nonfiction and I remember all of them fondly! I hope there's something new to you on this list

[likeadevils]

okay it seems like we’re picking up new cult members tonight and i need to tell yall about a man named sir richard owen

so i first stumbled upon him when i was trying to find out what platypus milk tastes like. you would think this would be easily googlable. surely, swiftie tumblr is not the first person to wonder about this, and surely some youtuber, or at least a zookeeper, has tried it and told the tale

to this motherfucking day the only first hand account i could fine was from one sir richard owen in 1832. EIGHTEEN THIRTY TWO. “okay,” i think. “it’s not like platypus milk has dramatically changed taste sense the 1800s. this strange, but still relevant data.”

but no. no. this motherfucker did not sample milk from a wild platypus. he did not sample milk from a captured platypus. dear reader, he did not even sample milk from a living platypus. this motherfucker sampled milk from a taxidermied platypus shipped from australia to england in the 1830s, which means it had at best been dead for months. (for the record, he described it as “drops of a yellowish oil, which afforded neither perceptible taste nor smell, except such as was derived from the preserving liquor”)

after months of platypus milk cult nights, i finally crack and look at this guys wikipedia page. what follows are my favorite qoutes, fun facts, and other miscellaneous bullshit

richard owen coined the term dinosauria, now dinosaur.

he helped create the natural history museum in london, the first of its kind

he once hosted a dinner party inside a giant concrete dinosaur

“Owen was granted right of first refusal on any freshly dead animal at the London Zoo. His wife once arrived home to find the carcass of a newly deceased rhinoceros in her front hallway.”

there is a very large section of his wikipedia page dedicated to his personal beef with charles darwin. not included in that section, his statue in the natural history museum of london, a museum that he opened, was replaced by a statue of charles darwin

“Owen has been described by some as a malicious, dishonest and hateful individual. He has been described in one biography as being a "social experimenter with a penchant for sadism. Addicted to controversy and driven by arrogance and jealousy".”

“An Oxford University professor once described Owen as "a damned liar. He lied for God and for malice".”

“Richard Broke Freeman described him as "the most distinguished vertebrate zoologist and palaeontologist ... but a most deceitful and odious man"”

Charles Darwin called him "Spiteful, extremely malignant, clever; the Londoners say he is mad with envy because my book is so talked about"

He claimed that he was the discoverer of the iguanodaun, when really it was this other guy, gideon mandell. richard published an anonymous paper talking shit about gideon and used his sway in the field to ensure that none of gideon mandalls papers were published in the royal society.

“Owen also resorted to the same subterfuge he used against Mantell [against Charles Darwin], writing another anonymous article in the Edinburgh Review in April 1860. In the article, Owen was critical of Darwin for not offering many new observations, and heaped praise (in the third person) upon himself […] Owen did praise, however, the Origin's description of Darwin's work on insect behavior and pigeon breeding as "real gems".

this is what he looked like

[unexpecteddinolesson]

Gideonmantellia

Gideonmantellia is a basal ornithopod dinosaur known from the Early Cretaceous of Spain. The name of the genus honors Gideon Mantell, the describer of Hypsilophodon, which Gideonmantellia was originally thought to be. Like other ornithopods, it was herbivorous, and had a beak at the front of the mouth and teeth in the back, to process the vegetation it ate. Gideonmantellia was bipedal and grew to just over 1 m in length, and 2 kg in body mass.

Get a sneak-peek at upcoming dinos and request your favorite!

[akariuta311101]

I-Iguanodon

1. Taxonomic Group: Iguanodon is a genus within the Ornithopoda suborder, classified under the family Iguanodontidae. It is one of the best-known early ornithopods.

2. Size and Weight: Iguanodon was relatively large, measuring up to 10 meters (33 feet) in length and weighing around 4 to 5 metric tons (8,800 to 11,000 pounds).

3. Time Period: This dinosaur lived during the Early Cretaceous period, roughly 140 to 110 million years ago.

4. Location: Fossils of Iguanodon have been discovered in various locations across Europe, particularly in Belgium, as well as parts of North America, Asia, and Africa.

5. Diet: As a herbivore, Iguanodon primarily fed on a variety of plants, using its specialized teeth to grind vegetation. It likely consumed ferns, conifers, and early flowering plants.

6. Distinctive Features: Iguanodon had a robust body structure with a long, stiff tail for balance. One of its most distinctive features was its large thumb spike, which was likely used for defense or foraging. Its hands had three main fingers that could grasp objects, showing a versatile use of its forelimbs.

7. Head Structure: Its skull was elongated with a beak-like structure at the front for cropping plants. The teeth were arranged in a way that allowed it to process food efficiently. The beak was toothless and covered with a keratinous sheath.

8. Movement and Behavior: Iguanodon was capable of both bipedal and quadrupedal movement, relying on its hind legs for speed and its forelimbs for support while feeding. This versatility made it a highly adaptive and agile dinosaur.

9. Initial Discovery: The genus Iguanodon was described by Gideon Mantell in 1825, based on fossils discovered in the Weald Clay of Sussex, England. These discoveries included teeth that Mantell recognized as resembling those of modern iguanas, hence the name “Iguanodon” meaning “iguana tooth.”

10. Skin and Fossil Finds: There are no known skin impressions for Iguanodon, but skeletal remains are abundant and include nearly complete skeletons, parts of the skull, vertebrae, and limb bones. Fossilized footprints have also been found, providing insights into its locomotion. 11. Social Behavior: Evidence suggests that Iguanodon may have lived in herds, as multiple individuals are often found together. This social behavior would have provided protection against predators and facilitated the care of young.

12. Nesting and Reproduction: Specific details about the nesting and reproductive behaviors of Iguanodon are not well-documented. However, it is presumed to have laid eggs, similar to other ornithopods. Fossilized nests of related species suggest that they might have nested in colonies.

13. Cultural Significance: Iguanodon holds a significant place in paleontological history as one of the first dinosaurs to be described. It has provided valuable insights into the evolution and diversity of herbivorous dinosaurs during the Early Cretaceous. Iguanodon has been prominently featured in literature, films, and exhibits, making it one of the most recognizable dinosaurs. Its discovery and subsequent interpretations have played a key role in the development of paleontology as a science.

[antigonick]

hi! first of all, how's going? is the autumn treating you ok? second of all... i know you've said you haven't got too much time for reading fiction, but you are such a wonderful person to ask for recs i thought i'd give it a shot? you've said something about the mask of mirrors which really made me wanna read it (and i'm about to, i just want to buy the book ha!). but also. i crave some more... "society-chess-game novel" - any other recs like that? :) <3

Hi, yes! Thank you! The Mask of Mirrors does utilise society / political "games" as its main fuel / environment, and it has the added value of constructing the society with which it operates entirely; it's very impressive.

Anyway, off the top of my head, my favourites would be:

The Wolf Hall Series, by Hilary Mantel: Wolf Hall Bring up the Bodies The Mirror and the Light

House of Mirth, by Edith Warton

Dangerous Liaisons, by Choderlos de Laclos

Vanity Fair, by William Thackeray

I also enjoyed (though they're less consistent) The Poppy War Series, by R. F. Kuang The Poppy War The Dragon Republic The Burning God

Which reminds me that the first Locked Tomb tome COULD also correspond, if you stretch the theme a little—and everyone and their mother has read it but. It's so good. I'm putting it in.

Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir If you're into Arthuriana, the Queen of Air and Darkness by T. S. White (as part of The Once and Future King series, but all books have heavy tonal changes, this one would be the one that qualifies the most I think?) might float your boat.

Oh! and to some extent Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen, though it's much more light-hearted.

This is just a teeny list, looks like I don't actually READ that much politics-based books... But I hope you enjoy!

[artoodeeblue]

let your followers get to know you!! list the top 5 books you've read this year and then send this ask to other blogs you like

!!! Book ask book ask book ask book-

5. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

4. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

3. Exiled from Camelot by Cherith Baldry

2. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

1. The Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel

[earlypalaeoart]

Megatherium by Gideon Mantell, from his 1851 book Petrifactions and their teachings, or, A hand-book to the gallery of organic remains of the British Museum (1851)

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/19821

[devoutjunk]

Novel Syllabus 2024

This coming year I think I'm going to be on here more often than I am on twitter or elsewhere, and as part of that, I'm going to start documenting the process of writing my novel more actively. I want to return to/resurrect the momentum and energy I had while writing the first draft and be more intentional about setting aside time to work, even when it's difficult. Below are my writing goals for the coming year as well as my reading list of texts for inspiration, genre/background research, comps, etc. Would welcome any suggestions of texts (any genre/discipline) pertaining to Antigone, death & resurrection, Welsh and Cornish myth and folklore, ecology & environmental crisis, and the Gothic.

Writing Goals

Reach 50k words in draft 2 overall

Finish a draft of Anna's timeline

Finish a draft of Jo's timeline

Polish & submit an excerpt for the Center for Fiction Prize

Reading

* = reread

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & The Apocalyptic

The Memory Theater (Karin Tidbeck)

Who Fears Death (Nnedi Okorafor)

Urth of The New Sun (Gene Wolfe)

Slow River (Nicola Griffith)

Dream Snake (Vonda McIntyre)

Black Leopard, Red Wolf (Marlon James)

Notes from the Burning Age (Claire North)

Invisible Cities (Italo Calvino)*

Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)*

The Last Man (Mary Shelley)

The Drowned World (J.G. Ballard)

Strange Beasts of China (Yan Ge, trans. by Jeremy Tiang)

City of Saints and Madmen (Jeff VanderMeer)

Freshwater (Akweke Emezi)

The Glass Hotel (Emily St. John Mandel)

Pattern Master (Octavia Butler)

Sleep Donation (Karen Russell)

How High We Go in the Dark (Sequoia Nagamatsu)

The Magician's Nephew (C.S. Lewis)*

The Golden Compass (Phillip Pullman)*

The Green Witch (Susan Cooper)

The Tombs of Atuan (Ursula K. Le Guin)

Black Sun (Rebecca Roanhorse)

Gideon the Ninth (Tamsyn Muir)

Lives of the Monster Dogs (Kirsten Bakis)

Brian Evenson

Sofia Samatar

Connie Willis

Samuel Delaney

Jo Walton

Tanith Lee

Retellings

A Wild Swan (Michael Cunningham)

Til We Have Faces (C.S. Lewis)

Gingerbread (Helen Oyeyemi)

Circe (Madeline Miller)

The Owl Service (Alan Garner)

Literary Myth-Making, Mystery, and the Gothic

Nights at the Circus (Angela Carter)

Frenchman's Creek (Daphne Du Maurier)

Possession (A.S. Byatt)*

The Game (A.S. Byatt)*

The Essex Serpent (Sarah Perry)

Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë)

The Secret History (Donna Tartt)*

The Wild Hunt (Emma Seckel)

King Nyx (Kirsten Bakis)

The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)

The Lottery and Other Stories (Shirley Jackson)

Beloved (Toni Morrison)

The Night Land (William Hope Hodgson)

Interview with a Vampire (Anne Rice)*

Sexing the Cherry (Jeanette Winterson)*

Night Side of the River (Jeanette Winterson)

Bad Heroines (Emily Danforth)

All the Murmuring Bones (A.G. Slatter)

The Path of Thorns (A.G. Slatter)

Gormenghast (Mervyn Peake)

Prose Work, Perspective, and Stream of Consciousness

The Chandelier (Clarice Lispector)

The Waves (Virginia Woolf)*

The Years (Virginia Woolf)

The Intimate Historical Epic / Court Intrigues

Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel)*

Menewood (Nicola Griffith)

Dark Earth (Rebecca Stott)

A Place of Greater Safety (Hilary Mantel)

Research

The Mabinogion (trans. Sioned Davies)

Le Morte D'Arthur (Thomas Malory)

The Collected Brothers Grimm (Phillip Pullman)

Angela Carter's Collected Fairytales

Mythology (Edith Hamilton)

Underland (Robert Macfarlane)

The Wild Places (Robert Macfarlane)

Wildwood (Roger Deakin)

Vanishing Cornwall (Daphne Du Maurier)

Lonely Planet: Guide to Devon & Cornwall

A Traveler's Guide to the End of the World (David Gessner)

The Lost Boys of Montauk (Amanda M. Fairbanks)

A Cyborg Manifesto (Donna J. Harraway)

A Treasury of British Folklore (Dee Dee Chainey)*

The First Last Man: Mary Shelley and the Postapocalyptic Imagination (Eileen M. Hunt)

Antigone's Claim (Judith Butler)

Theories of Desire: Antigone Again (Judith Butler)

Ecology of Fear (Mike Davis)

[newlabdakos]

Iguanodon

(temporal range: 126-122 mio. years ago)

[text from the Wikipedia article, see also link above]

Iguanodon (/ɪˈɡwɑːnədɒn/ i-GWAH-nə-don; meaning 'iguana-tooth'), named in 1825, is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur. While many species found worldwide have been classified in the genus Iguanodon, dating from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, taxonomic revision in the early 21st century has defined Iguanodon to be based on one well-substantiated species: I. bernissartensis, which lived during the Barremian to early Aptian ages of the Early Cretaceous in Belgium, Germany, England, and Spain, between about 126 and 122 million years ago. Iguanodon was a large, bulky herbivore, measuring up to 9–11 metres (30–36 ft) in length and 4.5 metric tons (5.0 short tons) in body mass. Distinctive features include large thumb spikes, which were possibly used for defense against predators, combined with long prehensile fifth fingers able to forage for food.

The genus was named in 1825 by English geologist Gideon Mantell but discovered by William Harding Bensted, based on fossil specimens found in England and was given the species name I. anglicus. Iguanodon was the second type of dinosaur formally named based on fossil specimens, after Megalosaurus. Together with Megalosaurus and Hylaeosaurus, it was one of the three genera originally used to define Dinosauria. The genus Iguanodon belongs to the larger group Iguanodontia, along with the duck-billed hadrosaurs. The taxonomy of this genus continues to be a topic of study as new species are named or long-standing ones reassigned to other genera. In 1878 new, far more complete remains of Iguanodon were discovered in Belgium and studied by Louis Dollo. These were given the new species I. bernissartensis. In the early 21st century it became understood that the remains referred to as Iguanodon in England belonged to four different species (including I. bernissartensis) that were not closely related to each other, which were subsequently split off into Mantellisaurus, Barilium and Hypselospinus. It was also found that the originally described type species of Iguanodon, I. anglicus was a nomen dubium, and not valid. Thus the name "Iguanodon" became fixed around the well known species based primarily on the Belgian specimens. In 2015, a second valid species, I. galvensis, was named, based on fossils found in the Iberian Peninsula.

Scientific understanding of Iguanodon has evolved over time as new information has been obtained from fossils. The numerous specimens of this genus, including nearly complete skeletons from two well-known bone beds, have allowed researchers to make informed hypotheses regarding many aspects of the living animal, including feeding, movement, and social behaviour. As one of the first scientifically well-known dinosaurs, Iguanodon has occupied a small but notable place in the public's perception of dinosaurs, its artistic representation changing significantly in response to new interpretations of its remains.

[undetectorist]

hi! 😊 for the end-of-year book asks -- 2, 3, 17 por favor

omg i totally forgot that i queued that, thank you for asking my love!

2. did you reread anything? what?

omg, DID i. back when i was incredibly depressed in march/april, i found it really difficult to read anything new, partly because i wanted to be comforted and soothed, and partly because i was in a state of mind where i couldn't summon up new opinions on things. i wanted to read books where i knew how i'd feel at the end of them. and then i ended up rereading lots more as the year went on. anyway here's my reread list:

persuasion by jane austen

less by andrew sean greer

watership down by richard adams

the lord of the rings by j. r. r. tolkien

the earthsea quartet by ursula k. le guin

our mutual friend by charles dickens

a people's green new deal by max ajl

home by marilynne robinson

the wolves of willoughby chase by joan aiken

i hotel by karen tei yamashita

red white and royal blue by casey mcquiston

emma by jane austen

a room with a view by e. m. forster

the topeka school by ben lerner

gideon the ninth, harrow the ninth and nona the ninth by tamsyn muir

good omens by terry pratchett & neil gaiman

have his carcase by dorothy l. sayers

the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy by douglas adams

confabulations by john berger

piranesi by susanna clarke

the left hand of darkness by ursula k. le guin

whew.

3. what were your top five books of the year?

cloudstreet by tim winton

decolonial marxism by walter rodney

nothing to see here by kevin wilson

tom lake by ann patchett

in the woods by tana french

17. did any books surprise you with how good they were?

YES, nothing to see here knocked me out with how incredible it was and how much i needed to read it at the time. was also very much taken with beyond black by hilary mantel, which isn't necessarily a surprise but i was nervous to try her non-historical fiction books because i love her historical fiction so much!