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. 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 Owen had attributed to a variety of diffe ...
Gideon Mantell was born in Lewes, Sussex. He 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. Inspired by the sensational discovery of a fossilised animal resembling a huge crocodile (later identified as an i ...
In 1833 Mantell relocated to Brighton, but his medical practice suffered and he was almost rendered destitute, but for the town's council who promptly transformed his house into a museum.
In 1839, Mary Mantell left her husband. That same year, Gideon's youngest son Walter emigrated to New Zealand.
The museum in Brighton ultimately failed as a result of Mantell's habit of waiving the entrance fee. Finally ...
