Gideon Mantell
Gideon Mantell 1790 - 1852
Born	February 3, 1790 Lewes, Sussex, England, UK
Died	29 November 1852 November 10, London, England, UK

Gideon Algernon Mantell (February 3, 1790 – November 10, 1852) was an English obstetrician, geologist and palaeontologist. He is credited with discovering the first fossils identified as originating from a dinosaur, which were teeth belonging to an Iguanodon. Image File history File links Gideonmantell. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Statistics Population: 16,000 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TQ414101 Administration District: Lewes Shire county: East Sussex Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: East Sussex Historic county: Sussex Services Police force: Sussex Police Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: South East Coast Post... Sussex is a traditional county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... November 29 is the 333rd (in leap years the 334th) day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... November 10 is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 51 days remaining. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... November 10 is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 51 days remaining. ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the English as an ethnic group and nation. ... This article needs cleanup. ... A geologist is a contributor to the science of geology, studying the physical structure and processes of the Earth and planets of the solar system (see planetary geology). ... Paleontology or palaeontology (see Spelling differences) is the study of the history and development of life on Earth, including that of ancient plants and animals, based on the fossil record (evidence of their prehistoric existence as typically preserved in sedimentary rocks). ... An ammonite fossil Eocene fossil fish of the genus Knightia Petrified wood fossil formed through permineralization. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... Types of teeth Molars are used for grinding up foods Carnassials are used for slicing food. ... Species (neotype) Iguanodon (meaning Iguana tooth) is the name given to a genus of ornithopod dinosaurs, which lived roughly halfway between the early hypsilophodontids and their ultimate culmination in the duck-billed dinosaurs. ...

Early life and medical career

Mantell was born in Lewes, Sussex, the son of a shoemaker. He was apprenticed to a surgeon in Lewes, in 1805 and received his diploma as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, in 1811. In 1816, he married Mary Ann Woodhouse, purchased his own medical practice and took up an appointment at the Royal Artillery Hospital, at Ringmer, Lewes. Statistics Population: 16,000 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TQ414101 Administration District: Lewes Shire county: East Sussex Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: East Sussex Historic county: Sussex Services Police force: Sussex Police Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: South East Coast Post... Sussex is a traditional county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. ... If youre looking for the TV show, see The Apprentice. ... The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an independent professional body committed to promoting and advancing the highest standards of surgical care for patients. ... Ringmer is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. ...

Mantell was a dedicated and hard-working obstetrician, physician and surgeon, who regularly saw dozens of patients each day — on one occasion he attended sixty in a single day, during a typhus epidemic. Although mainly occupied with running his busy country medical practice in Lewes, he spent his little free time pursuing his passion, geology, often working into the early hours of the morning. He published his first paper, on the geology of the environs of Lewes, in 1813. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Epidemic typhus. ... World geologic provinces Oceanic crust  0-20 Ma  20-65 Ma  >65 Ma Geologic provinces  Shield  Platform  Orogen  Basin  Large igneous province  Extended crust Geology (from Greek γη- (ge-, the earth) and λογος (logos, word, reason))[1] is the science and study of the solid matter of a celestial body, its composition...

Geological research

Gideon Mantell - Early portrait

Inspired by the sensational discovery, by Mary Anning at Lyme Regis in Dorset, of a fossilised animal resembling a huge crocodile (later identified as an ichthyosaur), Mantell became passionately interested in the study of the fossilised animals and plants which were being found in his area. The fossils he had collected from the region, known as The Weald in Sussex, were from the chalk downlands covering the county. The chalk is part of the Upper Cretaceous ("chalk") Period and the fossils it contains are marine in origin. Image File history File links Gideonmantell2. ... Image File history File links Gideonmantell2. ... Mary Anning. ... Location within the British Isles The Cobb, with boats grounded in the harbour at low tide. ... Dorset (pronounced DOR-sit or [dɔ.sət], and sometimes in the past called Dorsetshire) is a county in the south-west of England, on the English Channel coast. ... An ammonite fossil Eocene fossil fish of the genus Knightia Petrified wood fossil formed through permineralization. ... Genera Mecistops Crocodylus Osteolaemus See full taxonomy. ... Taxonomy See text Ichthyosaurs (Greek for fish lizard - ιχθυς meaning fish and σαυρος meaning lizard) were giant marine reptiles that resembled fish and dolphins. ... An ammonite fossil Eocene fossil fish of the genus Knightia Petrified wood fossil formed through permineralization. ... A weald once meant a dense forest, especially the famous great wood once stretching far beyond the ancient counties of Sussex and Kent, England, where this country of smaller woods is still called the Weald. ... In this geological map of Great Britain the Chalk is labled 6 The Chalk Formation of Southern England is a system of chalk downland in the south of England. ... The Cretaceous Period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic Period (i. ... A geologic period is a subdivision of geologic time that divides Eras into smaller timeframes. ... Oceans (from Okeanos in Greek) are saline waters that cover almost three quarters (71%) of the surface of the Earth. ...

But by 1819, Mantell had begun acquiring fossils from a quarry, at Whiteman's Green, near Cuckfield. These included the remains of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, at a time when all the known fossil remains from Cretaceous England, hitherto, were marine in origin. He named the new strata the Strata of Tilgate Forest, after an historical wooded area and it was later shown to belong to the Lower Cretaceous. Cuckfield is a large village and civil parish (with a mayor) in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For the village on the Isle of Wight, see Freshwater, Isle of Wight. ... An ecosystem, a contraction of ecological and system, refers to the collection of biotic and abiotic components and processes that comprise, and govern the behaviour of some defined subset of the biosphere. ... Tilgate is a neighbourhood within the town of Crawley in West Sussex, England. ... Eucalyptus Forest at Swifts Creek in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. ...

By 1820, he had started to find very large bones at Cuckfield, even larger than those discovered by William Buckland, at Stonesfield in Oxfordshire. Then, in 1822, shortly before finishing his first book (The Fossils of South Downs), he found several large teeth (although some historians contend that they were in fact discovered by his wife), the origin of which he could not identify. William Buckland (12 March 1784 - 24 August 1856) was a prominent English geologist and palaeontologist who wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, a proponent of Old Earth creationism and Flood geology who later became convinced by the glaciation theory of Louis Agassiz. ... Stonesfield is a village on the eastern extremity of the Cotswolds. ... Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in south-east England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ... HIStory: Past, Present and Future – Book I is a two-disc album by Michael Jackson released in 1995 by the Epic Records division of Sony BMG. The first disc (HIStory Begins) is a fifteen-track greatest hits (later released as Greatest Hits - HIStory Volume I), while the second disc (HIStory...

In 1821 Mantell planned his next book on the geology of Sussex. It was an immediate success with two hundred subscribers including a letter from king George IV at Carlton house palace which read "His majesty is pleased to command that his name should be placed at the head of the subscription list for four copies." George IV King of the United Kingdom George IV (George Augustus Frederick) (12 August 1762–26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 29 January 1820. ...

How the king heard of Mantell is unknown, but Mantell's response is. Galvanised and encouraged, Mantell showed the teeth to other scientists but they were dismissed as belonging to a fish or mammal and from a more recent rock layer than the other Tilgate Forest fossils. The eminent French anatomist, Georges Cuvier, identified the teeth as those of a rhinoceros. A giant grouper at the Georgia Aquarium Fish are aquatic vertebrates that are typically cold-blooded; covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins. ... Orders Multituberculata (extinct) Volaticotheria (extinct) Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Triconodonta (extinct) Subclass Australosphenida Ausktribosphenida Monotremata Subclass Eutheria (excludes extinct ancestors) Afrosoricida Anagaloidea (extinct) Arctostylopida (extinct) Artiodactyla Carnivora Cetacea Chiroptera Cimolesta (extinct) Cingulata Creodonta (extinct) Condylarthra (extinct) Dermoptera Desmostylia (extinct) Dinocerata (extinct) Embrithopoda (extinct) Hyracoidea Insectivora Lagomorpha Leptictida (extinct) Litopterna (extinct) Macroscelidea Mesonychia... Greek anatome, from ana-temnein, to cut up), is the branch of biology that deals with the structure and organization of living things; thus there is animal anatomy (zootomy) and plant anatomy (phytonomy). ... Georges Cuvier Baron Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier (August 23, 1769–May 13, 1832) was a French naturalist and zoologist. ... Genera Ceratotherium Dicerorhinus Diceros Rhinoceros Coelodonta (extinct) Elasmotherium (extinct) Height Comparison of Extant Rhinoceros Species. ...

Although according to Charles Lyell, Cuvier made this statement after a late party and apparently had some doubts when reconsidering the matter when he awoke, fresh in the morning. "The next morning he told me that he was confident that it was something quite different." Strangely, this change of opinion did not make it back to Britain where Mantell was mocked for his error. Charles Lyell The frontispiece from Principles of Geology Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet Kt (November 14, 1797 – February 22, 1875), Scottish lawyer, geologist, and populariser of uniformitarianism. ...

Mantell was still convinced that the teeth had come from the Mesozoic strata and finally recognized that they resembled those of the iguana, but were twenty times larger. He surmised that the owner of the remains must have been at least 60 feet (18 metres) in length. The Mesozoic Era is one of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon. ... Species Lesser Antillean Iguana, Green Iguana, Although iguana can refer to other members of the lizard family Iguanidae, this article concerns members of the genus Iguana. ... A foot (plural: feet; symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... The metre, or meter (U.S.), is a measure of length. ...

Recognition

Illustration of fossil Iguanodon teeth with a modern iguana jaw from Mantell's 1825 paper describing Iguanodon.

He tried in vain to convince his peers that the fossils were from Mesozoic strata, by carefully studying rock layers. Sir Richard Owen famously disputed Mantell's assertion, by claiming that the teeth were of mammalian origins. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (607x884, 85 KB) Figure of fossil iguanadon teeth and iguana jaw that Gideon Mantell included in his 1825 paper naming iguanadon. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (607x884, 85 KB) Figure of fossil iguanadon teeth and iguana jaw that Gideon Mantell included in his 1825 paper naming iguanadon. ... The Mesozoic Era is one of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon. ... Sir Richard Owen KCB (July 20, 1804–December 18, 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist. ...

When it was proved Mantell was correct the only question was what to call his new reptile. His original name was Iguanasaurus but he then received a letter from William Daniel Conybeare, "Your discovery of the analogy between the Iguana and the fossil teeth is very interesting but the name you propose will hardly do, because it is equally applicable to the recent iguana. Iguanoides or Iguanodon would be better." Mantell took this advice to heart and called his creature Iguanodon. William Daniel Conybeare (June 7, 1787 - August 12, 1857), dean of Llandaff, one of the most distinguished of English geologists, who was born in London, was a grandson of John Conybeare, bishop of Bristol (1602-1785), a notable preacher and divine, and son of Dr William Conybeare, rector of Bishopsgate. ...

Years later, Mantell had acquired enough fossil evidence to show that the dinosaur's forelimbs were much shorter than its hind legs, therefore ruling out any mammal. Mantell went on to demonstrate that fossil vertebrae, which Owen had attributed to a variety of different species, all belonged to Iguanodon. He also named a new species of dinosaur called Hylaeosaurus and as a result became an authority on prehistoric reptiles. A diagram of a thoracic vertebra. ... Binomial name Hylaeosaurus armatus Mantell, 1833 Hylaeosaurus (hi-LAY-ee-oh-SORE-us) is the most obscure of the three animals used by Sir Richard Owen to first define the new group Dinosauria, in 1842. ...

Later years

In 1833, Mantell relocated to Brighton but his medical practice suffered. He was almost rendered destitute, but for the town's council who promptly transformed his house into a museum. The museum in Brighton ultimately failed as a result of Mantell's habit of waiving the entrance fee. Finally destitute, Mantell offered to sell the entire collection to the British Museum, in 1838, for £5,000, accepting the counter-offer of £4,000. He moved to Clapham Common in South London, where continued his work as a doctor. For other places with the same name, see Brighton (disambiguation). ... The Louvre Museum in Paris, one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. ... ISO 4217 Code GBP User(s) United Kingdom Inflation 2. ... Clapham Common Clapham Common is a triangular area of grassland of about 200 acres (0. ...

Mary Mantell left her husband in 1839. That same year, Gideon's son Walter emigrated to New Zealand (Walter later sent his father some important fossils from New Zealand). His daughter Hannah died in 1840.

Mantell suffered a terrible carriage accident on Clapham Common, in 1841 and was left with a debilitating spinal injury. Despite being bent over with crippling deformity and in constant pain, he continued to work with fossilized reptiles and published a number of scientific books and papers, until his death. He moved to Pimlico in 1844 and began to take opium, as a painkiller, in 1845. Clapham Common Clapham Common is a triangular area of grassland of about 200 acres (0. ... Pimlico is a district in London, England and part of the City of Westminster. ... Opium, or opïum is a narcotic analgesic drug which is obtained from the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L. or the synonym paeoniflorum). ... For other uses of painkiller, see painkiller (disambiguation) An analgesic (colloquially known as painkiller) is any member of the diverse group of drugs used to relieve pain. ...

Death and legacy

In 1852, Mantell took an overdose of opium and later lapsed into a coma. He died that afternoon. His post-mortem showed that he had been suffering from scoliosis. Richard Owen, his one-time nemesis, had a section of Mantell's spine removed, pickled and stored on a shelf at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. There it sat until World War II when it was lost, presumably destroyed, during a German bombing raid. A drug overdose occurs when a chemical substance (i. ... The term post mortem means after death. It is also short for postmortem examination, or autopsy. ... Look up spine on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an independent professional body committed to promoting and advancing the highest standards of surgical care for patients. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States France Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Charles de Gaulle Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hirohito Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead...

Mantell's surgery, on the south side of Clapham Common, is now a dental surgery.

In 2000, in commemoration of Mantell's discovery and his contribution to the science of palaeontology, The Mantell Monument was unveiled at Whiteman's Green, Cuckfield. The monument has been confirmed as the location of the Iguanodon fossils Mantell first described, in 1822. He is buried within a sarcophagus at West Norwood Cemetery. Stone sarcophagus of Pharaoh Merenptah Detail of a stone sarcophagus in the Istanbul Archeological Museum showing a hunting scene Anthropoid sarcophagus discovered at Cádiz A sarcophagus is a stone container for a coffin or body. ... West Norwood Cemetery is a cemetery in West Norwood, Lambeth, London. ...

References

• Dean, Dennis R. Gideon Mantell and the Discovery of Dinosaurs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-521-42048-2
• McGowan, Christopher. The Dragon Seekers: How an Extraordinary Circle of Fossilists Discovered the Dinosaurs and Paved the Way for Darwin. Cambridge: Perseus Publishing, 2001. ISBN 0-7382-0282-7

External links

• A History of Dinosaur Hunting and Reconstruction
• NNDB
• Gideon Mantell Biography at Strange Science.net