biology

Iguanacolossus

Iguanacolossus is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Iguanacolossus rather than just read about it. In short: Iguanacolossus (meaning "iguana colossus" or "colossal iguana") is a genus of iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Early Cretaceous period. It is known from UMNH VP 20205, the associated holotype with a large partial skeleton of a single individual.

Key takeaways

Iguanacolossus belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Iguanacolossus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Iguanacolossus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Iguanacolossus (meaning "iguana colossus" or "colossal iguana") is a genus of iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Early Cretaceous period. It is known from UMNH VP 20205, the associated holotype with a large partial skeleton of a single individual.

Discovery and naming

The holotype of Iguanacolossus, UMNH VP 20205, was discovered by Donald D. DeBlieux in 2005, unearthed from the Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah; dating from the Valanginian stage in the Early Cretaceous, it wasn't named and described until 2010 by Andrew T. McDonald, James I. Kirkland, Donald D. DeBlieux, Scott K. Madsen, Jennifer Cavin, Andrew R. C. Milner, and Lukas Panzarin, along with the genus Hippodraco, also from the Cedar Mountain Formation. UMNH VP 20205 is assigned to a single individual, including skull elements: fragmented predentary, partial right maxilla, right squamosal, teeth, right and left quadrates. Body remains compromise: vertebrae (cervical, dorsal and caudal), chevrons, ribs, right scapula, right ilium, right pubis, right metatarsals and left fibula. The generic name, Iguanacolossus, is a combination of the reptile genus "Iguana", and the Latin word "colossus" (meaning colossal and/or giant) in relation to the iconic Iguana-like teeth of iguanodontians and the notorious large body size of the specimen. The specific name, "fortis", means mighty. The binomial means "Mighty Iguana Colossus". Additional findings at the Doelling's Bowl site are currently on revision, compromising mostly juvenile material based on lower jaws and humerus. Other remains include a large femur and pubis.

Description

Iguanacolossus is a large, robust iguanodontid, probably reaching 9 m (30 ft) long and weighing 5 t (11,000 lb) in body mass. According to McDonald and colleagues, Iguanacolossus differs from other iguanodontians in having a contact surface for supraoccipital on caudomedial process of squamosal curved in caudal view, cranial pubic process with concave dorsal margin but little expansion of its cranial end, postorbital process of the squamosal mediolaterally compressed and blade-like, pubis tapers to a blunt point, cranial extremity of preacetabular process of ilium modified into horizontal boot, axial neural spine blade-like and semi-circular in profile, and the dorsal margin of ilium straight.

It had stock metatarsals and a prominent left fibula measuring 63.0 cm (24.8 in). The maxilla preserves 14 alveoli, the presence of two concave surfaces suggest an elliptical and elongate antorbital fossa. Based on comparisons with Camptosaurus and Dakotadon, the two isolated teeth are clasiffied as dentary and maxillary, having a shield-shaped crown and lozenge-shaped crown respectively. The scapular bone is almost complete; a denticle is preserved on the predentary, various vertebrae indicate a very iguanodontian-like body shape, specially dorsal vertebrae. The two right metatarsals are classified as metatarsals III and IV based on Camptosaurus and Iguanodon. The right pubis shows derived and plesiomorphic features, seen on related iguanodontians.

Classification

Iguanacolossus was placed in the Iguanodontia, being a styracosternan, a basal subgroup containing the Hadrosauridae and all dinosaurs more closely related to hadrosaurids than to camptosaurids. Below are the results obtained in the phylogenetic analysis performed by its describers in 2010:

Paleoecology

Iguanacolossus was recovered in the Yellow Cat Member from the Cedar Mountain Formation. However, this Member is divided in two beds: Upper and Lower Yellow Cat; Iguanacolossus was unearthed from the Lower bed, where it shared its environment with the theropods Falcarius, Geminiraptor and Yurgovuchia, the sauropod Mierasaurus and the turtle Naomichelys. There are also indeterminate goniopholidids known from the Lower Yellow Cat. The other paleofauna is from the Upper Yellow Cat, which includes such dinosaur genera as the sauropods Cedarosaurus and Moabosaurus, the fellow iguanodontians Cedrorestes and Hippodraco, the theropods Martharaptor and Utahraptor (as well as the avian ichnogenus Aquatilavipes), and the nodosaurid Gastonia. Other vertebrate genera include the turtles Glyptops and Trinitichelys, the fish Ceratodus and Semionotus, and the mammal Cifelliodon. Additional unnamed species are known from this bed: a sail-backed iguanodont, a eudromaeosaur and velociraptorine, goniopholidids, mesoeucrocodylians, a neochoristodere, and hybodontid and polyacrodontid sharks.

See also 2010 in paleontology Ornithopoda Cedar Mountain Formation

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Iguanacolossus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Iguanacolossus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Iguanacolossus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Iguanacolossus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Iguanacolossus

In research: Iguanacolossus appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Iguanacolossus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Iguanacolossus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Ankylopollexia, Cedar Mountain Formation, Dinosaur genera, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Iguanacolossus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Iguanacolossus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Iguanacolossus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Iguanacolossus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Iguanacolossus in simple terms?

Why does Iguanacolossus matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Iguanacolossus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Iguanacolossus.