Priconodon

Priconodon
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 113 Ma
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Priconodon tooth in multiple views
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: †Ornithischia
Clade: †Thyreophora
Clade: †Ankylosauria
Family: †Nodosauridae
Genus: †Priconodon
Species:
†P. crassus
Binomial name
†Priconodon crassus
Marsh, 1888

Priconodon (meaning "saw cone tooth"[1]) is an extinct genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur (perhaps nodosaurid), mainly known from its large teeth. Its remains have been found in the Aptian-Albian age Lower Cretaceous Arundel Formation of Muirkirk, Prince George's County, Maryland, USA and the Potomac Group, also located in Maryland. As an ankylosaur, Priconodon would have been a large armored quadrupedal herbivore, though no size estimation has been done due to the scarcity of described remains.

History of discovery

O. C. Marsh named the genus for USNM 2135, a large worn tooth from what was then called the Potomac Formation. As ankylosaurians were by and large unknown at the time, he compared it to Diracodon (=Stegosaurus) teeth.[2] It was not identified as an ankylosaurian until Walter Coombs assigned it to Nodosauridae in 1978.[3]

In 1998 Kenneth Carpenter and James Kirkland, in a review of North American Lower Cretaceous ankylosaurs, considered it tentatively valid as an unusually large nodosaurid, larger than all those described before.[4] Carpenter (2001) retained it as a valid nodosaurid, but did not employ it in his phylogenetic analysis.[5] Vickaryous et al. (2004), in a review of armored dinosaurs, considered it to be dubious without comment.[6] West and Tibert, however, followed this with a preliminary account of a morphometric study that found it to be a unique genus.[7]

Additional specimens

Carpenter and Kirkland (1998) listed 12 additional teeth from the same area as the holotype tooth, and tentatively added a robust tibia (USNM 9154) to the genus. They found the lack of armor found in the Arundel to be peculiar, but noted that fossils are rare in that formation anyway.[4] In 2018, three new ankylosaur teeth described from the Potomac Formation were assigned to Priconodon crassus based on their similarity to the holotype.[8] In 2023, large ankylosaur fossils (including a vertebra and a osteroderms) were announced to be found at Dinosaur Park by John-Paul Hodnett,[9][10] which may potentially represent additional specimens of Priconodon.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Untitled Document".
  2. ^ Marsh, O.C. (1888). Notice of a new genus of Sauropoda and other new dinosaurs from the Potomac Formation. American Journal of Science 135:89-94.
  3. ^ Coombs, Jr., W.P. (1978). The families of the ornithischian dinosaur order Ankylosauria. Palaeontology 21(1):143-170.
  4. ^ a b Carpenter, K., and Kirkland, J.I. (1998). Review of Lower and middle Cretaceous ankylosaurs from North America. In: Lucas, S.G., Kirkland, J.I., and Estep, J.W. (eds.). Lower and Middle Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 14:249-270.
  5. ^ Carpenter, K. (2001). Phylogenetic analysis of the Ankylosauria. In: Carpenter, K. (ed.). The Armored Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press:Bloomington 455-483. ISBN 0-253-33964-2
  6. ^ Vickaryous, M.K., Maryańska, T., and Weishampel, D.B., (2004). Ankylosauria. In: Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). The Dinosauria (second edition). University of California Press:Berkeley 363-392. ISBN 0-520-24209-2
  7. ^ "West, A. and Tibert, N. (2004). Quantitative analysis for the type material of Priconodon crassus: a distinct taxon from the Arundel Formation in southern Maryland. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 36(5):423". Archived from the original on 2007-01-06. Retrieved 2007-01-05.
  8. ^ Joseph A. Frederickson; Thomas R. Lipka; Richard L. Cifelli (2018). "Faunal composition and paleoenvironment of the Arundel Clay (Potomac Formation; Early Cretaceous), Maryland, USA". Palaeontologia Electronica. 21 (2): Article number 21.2.31A. doi:10.26879/847.
  9. ^ Domen, John (2023-07-12). "Dinosaur Park in Laurel reveal the largest theropod fossil in Eastern North America". WTOP News. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  10. ^ Reed, Lillian (2023-07-12). "Maryland before time: Rare dinosaur bone bed uncovered in Prince George's County". The Baltimore Banner. Archived from the original on 2023-07-13.
  11. ^ Dipiazza, Chris (2023-07-17). "Prehistoric Beast of the Week: Maryland Dinosaurs: Major Discovery!". Prehistoric Beast of the Week. Retrieved 2024-08-02.