Hypsilophodon was one of the first dinos to be discovered (because it was English, and most of the paleontologists back in good ol’ 1850 were English). It was herbivorous and was an ornithischian closely related to the ornithopods. It lived back in the Early Cretaceous in the Isle of Wight. Many misconceptions were made about it, but recent research has cleared most of it up.
Hypsilophodon lived in the Early Cretaceous Isle of Wight, a very swampy and wet area at the time. The Isle of Wight is one of the richest fossil sites in Europe, and it contained many dinosaurs, such as Neovenator, Iguanodon, Baryonyx, Hypsilophodon, Yaverlandia, Eotyrannus, and a lot of other animals as well. The Isle of Wight was pretty popular back in the Early Cretaceous.
People used to to think that Hypsilophodon was a climber, but recent research showed that it was completely terrestrial, so no climbing dino. Hypsilophodon’s name is often mistranslated as “high-ridged tooth” from Greek, but as in Iguanodon, who was named after iguanas, Hypsilophodon was named after a genus of iguanas called Hypsilophus and its name had nothing to do with its teeth.
Hypsilophodon is classified as a basal neornithischian close to the ornithopods, nowadays, but back in good ol’ 1850, most people just thought that the fossils were from young Iguanodon. However, some paleontologists determined that it was a distinct genus. However, until recently, it was deemed to belong to the Ornithopoda in a family of its own. Now, paleontologists have excluded it from the Ornithopoda. Until further notice, Hypsilophodon’s gonna remain lonely.
Anay Ganesh 