Dinosaurs Around the World · Drawing 12 of 34
Iguanodon
Europe · Cretaceous
Iguanodon ate plants. Its hands carried thumb spikes. Skeletons have been found in Belgium.
Did you know?
A spike first placed on the nose was later recognized as a thumb.
Look together
Can you find the spikes on its thumbs?
An idea to try
Find the beak and thumb spikes.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Iguanodon bernissartensis is known from the Bernissart skeletons. The thumb’s history illustrates revising a reconstruction using more complete fossils. An old hypothesis can show how science develops.
Look together: Can you find the spikes on its thumbs? Find the beak and thumb spikes.
Sources and illustration notes (1)
Simplified reconstruction. Pose, unpreserved tissues and setting are interpreted. Choose your own colours; animals are not to one scale.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Natural History Museum: IguanodonIdentify a plant-eater’s distinctive thumb spike.
Source review: 2026-10-04. Illustrations are simplified for colouring.
