''Dakotadon'' (meaning "Dakota tooth") is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

iguanodont Iguanodontia (the iguanodonts) is a clade of herbivorous dinosaurs that lived from the Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. Some members include ''Camptosaurus'', ''Dryosaurus'', ''Iguanodon'', ''Tenontosaurus'', and the hadrosaurids or "duck-bil ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

from the

Barremian The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 129.4 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous Epoch (or Lower Cretaceous Series). It is preceded ...

-age

Lower Cretaceous Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eight ...

Lakota Formation The Lakota Formation is a sequence of rocks of early Cretaceous (Berriasian to Barremian) age from Western North America. Located in South Dakota, the name of the formation is derived from the Lakota Native American tribe. There are two units of ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, known from a partial skull. It was first described in 1989 as '' Iguanodon lakotaensis'', by

David B. Weishampel Professor David Bruce Weishampel (born November 16, 1952) is an American palaeontologist in the Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Weishampel received his Ph.D. in Geology from the Universi ...

and

Philip R. Bjork Philip Reese Bjork is an American geologist and paleontologist known for his work in unearthing dinosaur species in America. Career Bjork received his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan. Bjork's Master's thesis was on the vertebra ...

. Its assignment has been controversial. Some researchers suggest that ''"I." lakotaensis'' was more basal than ''I. bernissartensis'', and related to ''

Theiophytalia ''Theiophytalia'' is a genus of herbivorous iguanodontian dinosaur from the lower Cretaceous period (Aptian-Albian stage, about 112 million years ago) of Colorado, USA. It contains a single species, ''T. kerri''. Description Detailed comparison ...

'',Brill, Kathleen and Kenneth Carpenter. 2007. "A description of a new ornithopod from the Lytle Member of the Purgatoire Formation (Lower Cretaceous) and a reassessment of the skull of ''Camptosaurus''." ''Horns and Beaks'', 49–67. but David Norman has suggested that it was a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''I. bernissartensis''.

Gregory S. Paul Gregory Scott Paul (born December 24, 1954) is an American freelance researcher, author and illustrator who works in paleontology, and more recently has examined sociology and theology. He is best known for his work and research on theropod dino ...

, working on a revision of iguanodont species, gave "I." ''lakotaensis'' its own genus (''Dakotadon'') in 2008. He measured its length at and body mass at .

References

Early Cretaceous dinosaurs of North America Dinosaurs of North America Fossil taxa described in 2008 Iguanodonts Taxa named by Gregory S. Paul Paleontology in South Dakota Ornithischian genera {{ornithopod-stub