In Depth
Hypselospinus was a genus of ornithopod that was similar to Iguanodon, so similar in fact that the holotype remains of the genus were originally named as a species of Iguanodon, I. fittoni. These remains were re-described as a new genus by Norman in 2010, but not long after another name for the remains was proposed by Carpenter and Ishida. Iguanodon fittoni was now named as Hypselospinus and Wadhurstia, but because first naming has priority in such circumstances, Wadhurstia became a synonym to Hypselospinus.
The partial remains of Hypselospinus on their own do not reveal much about the life of this dinosaur, but as an iguanodontid a few things can be assumed by them. Hypselospinus seems to have been a mid-range sized ornithopod, that would have probably been primarily quadrupedal, but still have the ability to be bipedal when it had to, such as reaching vegetation growing beyond the height that low browsers could reach.
Further Reading
- On the remains and affinities of five genera of Mesozoic reptiles, Richard Lydekker - 1889. - A taxonomy of iguanodontians (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the lower Wealden Group (Cretaceous: Valanginian) of southern England, David B. Norman - 2010. - Early and “Middle” Cretaceous Iguanodonts in Time and Space, K. Carpenter & Y. Ishida - 2010.
