''Trachodon'' (meaning "rough tooth") is a dubious

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 ...

hadrosaurid Hadrosaurids (), or duck-billed dinosaurs, are members of the ornithischian family Hadrosauridae. This group is known as the duck-billed dinosaurs for the flat duck-bill appearance of the bones in their snouts. The ornithopod family, which inclu ...

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 ...

based on

teeth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...

from the Campanian-age

Upper Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

Judith River Formation of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

, U.S.Leidy, J. (1856). "Notice of remains of extinct reptiles and fishes, discovered by F. V. Hayden in the Bad Lands of the Judith River, Nebraska Territories." ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Science Philadelphia'', 8(25 March): 72–73. It is a historically important genus with a convoluted

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

that has been all but abandoned by modern dinosaur

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

s.Creisler, B.S. (2007). Deciphering duckbills. in: K. Carpenter (ed.), ''Horns and Beaks: Ceratopsian and Ornithopod Dinosaurs''. Indiana University Press: Bloomington and Indianapolis, 185–210. Despite being used for decades as the iconic duckbill dinosaur, the material it is based on is composed of teeth from both duckbills and

ceratopsid Ceratopsidae (sometimes spelled Ceratopidae) is a family of ceratopsian dinosaurs including ''Triceratops'', ''Centrosaurus'', and ''Styracosaurus''. All known species were quadrupedal herbivores from the Upper Cretaceous. All but one species are k ...

s (their teeth have a distinctive double rootHatcher, J.B., Marsh, O.C. and Lull, R.S. (1907). ''The Ceratopsia''. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 300 pp. ), and its describer, Joseph Leidy, came to recognize the difference and suggested limiting the genus to what would now be seen as ceratopsid teeth. Restricted to the duckbill teeth, it may have been a

lambeosaurine Lambeosaurinae is a group of crested hadrosaurid dinosaurs. Classification Lambeosaurines have been traditionally split into the tribes or clades Parasaurolophini ('' Parasaurolophus'', ''Charonosaurus'', others (?).) and Lambeosaurini (''Cor ...

.Sternberg, C.M. (1936). The systematic position of ''Trachodon''. ''Journal of Paleontology'' 10(7):652–655.

History and classification

In 1856, Joseph Leidy received fragmentary remains from the Judith River Formation, collected by Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden. From these bones, he provided the first names for

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n dinosaurs: '' Deinodon'', ''

Palaeoscincus ''Palaeoscincus'' (meaning "ancient skink" from the Greek παλαιός and σκίγγος) is a dubious genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur based on teeth from the mid-late Campanian-age Upper Cretaceous Judith River Formation of Montana. Like se ...

'', ''Trachodon'', and '' Troodon'' (then spelled ''Troödon''). The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of ''Trachodon'' is ''T. mirabilis''. The generic name is derived from Greek τραχυς, ''trakhys'', "rough", and όδον, ''odon'', "tooth", referring to the granulate inner surface of one of the teeth. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

means "marvelous" in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. ''Trachodon'' was based on ANSP 9260, seven unassociated teeth, one of which had double roots. With better remains from '' Hadrosaurus'', he began to reconsider his taxonomy, and suggested, at least informally, that ''Trachodon'' should refer to the double-rooted tooth, and the other teeth should be referred to ''Hadrosaurus''.Leidy, J. (1868). Remarks on a jaw fragment of ''Megalosaurus''. ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Science Philadelphia'' 20:197–200. In the

Bone Wars The Bone Wars, also known as the Great Dinosaur Rush, was a period of intense and ruthlessly competitive fossil hunting and discovery during the Gilded Age of American history, marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope (of the Acade ...

that followed, and their wake, the taxonomy of ''Trachodon'' and its relatives became increasingly confusing, with one author going so far as to sink all known hadrosaur species into ''Trachodon'' except for ''

Claosaurus agilis ''Claosaurus'' ( ; Ancient Greek, Greek κλάω, ''klao'' meaning 'broken' and , ''sauros'' meaning 'lizard'; "broken lizard", referring to the odd position of the fossils when discovered) is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur that lived during th ...

'',Hatcher, J.B. (1902). The genus and species of the Trachodontidae (Hadrosauridae, Claosauridae) Marsh. ''Annals of the Carnegie Museum'' 14(1):377–386. but as new material was described from the

Rocky Mountain The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

region,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, later authors began progressively restricting the reach of this genus.Gilmore, C.W. (1915). On the genus ''Trachodon''. ''Science'' 41:658–660. By 1942, and the publication of the influential Lull-Wright

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

on duckbills, its

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

was regarded as "typical of all the genera of hadrosaurian dinosaur", except for the roughened margin that gave it its name, and that they regarded as due to the tooth having not been used (p. 149).Lull, R.S., and Wright, N.E. (1942). Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs of North America. ''Geological Society of America Special Paper 40'':1–242. The name is no longer in use, except in historical discussions, and is considered a ''nomen dubium''.Coombs, Jr., W.P. (1988). The status of the dinosaurian genus ''Diclonius'' and the taxonomic utility of hadrosaurian teeth. ''Journal of Paleontology'' 62:812–818.Weishampel, D.B., and Horner, J.R. (1990). Hadrosauridae. In: Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). ''The Dinosauria''. University of California Press:Berkeley, 534–561. Horner, J.R., Weishampel, D.B., and Forster, C.A. (2004). Hadrosauridae. In: Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). ''The Dinosauria (second edition)''. University of California Press:Berkeley, 438–463. In 1936, paleontologist Charles Sternberg compared the holotype teeth of ''Trachodon mirabilis'' to those of more completely known hadrosaurids and noted that they were most similar to those of lambeosaurines. It has been reported that paleontologist

John R. Horner John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

also found that ''Trachodon'' teeth compare well with the teeth of lambeosaurines, specifically ''

Corythosaurus ''Corythosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of hadrosaurid "duck-billed" dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Period (geology), Period, about 77–75.7 million years ago. It lived in what is now North America. Its name means "helmet lizard", derived fr ...

'', though they also share similarities with the genus ''

Prosaurolophus ''Prosaurolophus'' (; meaning "before ''Saurolophus''", in comparison to the later dinosaur with a similar head crest) is a genus of hadrosaurid (or duck-billed) dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America. It is known from the remains of ...

''.Olshevsky, G. (1997)
"Re: Ye Olde Duckbill Dinosaur"
discussion group, The Dinosaur Mailing List, 8 August 1997. Accessed 6 April 2013.

Species

Numerous species have been referred to this genus, mostly before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Only those originally named as a species of ''Trachodon'' are considered here.

Type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

: ''T. mirabilis'' Leidy, 1856 Other species: *''T. amurense'' Riabinin, 1925Riabinin, A.N. (1925). A mounted skeleton of the gigantic reptile ''Trachodon amurense'', nov. sp. ''Izvest. Geol. Kom.'' 44(1):1–12. ussian/ref>(based on IVP AS collection, a partial skeleton from

rocks of the

Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...

banks of

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of t ...

, amended to ''T. amurensis'' and now the type species of '' Mandschurosaurus'')Riabinin, A.N. (1930). ''Mandschurosaurus amurensis'', nov. gen., nov. sp., a hadrosaurian dinoasur from the Upper Cretaceous of Amur River. ''Mémoir II, Société Paléontologique de Russie.'' ussian/ref> *''T. cantabrigiensis'' (''nomen dubium'')

Lydekker Richard Lydekker (; 25 July 1849 – 16 April 1915) was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history. Biography Richard Lydekker was born at Tavistock Square in London. His father was Gerard Wolfe Lydekker, ...

, 1888Lydekker, R. (1888). Note on a new Wealden iguanodont and other dinosaurs. ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London'' 44:46–61. (based on BMNH R.496, a dentary tooth from the late Albian-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 ...

Cambridge Greensand,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, regarded as a dubious early hadrosaurid) *''T. longiceps'' (''nomen dubium'')

Marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

, 1897Marsh, O.C. (1897). Vertebrate fossils of the Denver Basin. ''U.S. Geological Survey, Monthly'' 27:473–527. (based on YPM 616, a large right dentary with teeth from the late Maastrichtian-age Upper Cretaceous Lance Formation of

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

, U.S., later assigned to ''

Anatotitan ''Edmontosaurus annectens'' (meaning "connected lizard from Edmonton") is a species of flat-headed and duck-billed ( hadrosaurid) dinosaur from the very end of the Cretaceous Period, in what is now North America. Remains of ''E. annectens'' have ...

'') *''T. marginatus'' (''nomen dubium'') Lambe, 1902Lambe, L.M. (1902). On Vertebrata of the mid-Cretaceous of the Northwest Territory. 2. New genera and species from the Belly River Series (mid-Cretaceous). ''Contributions to Canadian Paleontology'' 3:25–81. (based on NMC 419, disassociated postcranial material; later made the type species of the genus ''

Stephanosaurus ''Stephanosaurus'' (meaning "crown lizard") is a dubious genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur with a complicated taxonomic history. In 1902, Lawrence Lambe named a new set of hadrosaurid limb material and other bones (originally GSC 419) from Albert ...

marginatus''Lambe, L.M. (1914). On a new genus and species of carnivorous dinosaur from the Belly River Formation of Alberta, with a description of the skull of ''Stephanosaurus marginatus'' from the same horizon. ''Ottawa Naturalist'' 28:13–20. and then referred to ''

Kritosaurus ''Kritosaurus'' is an incompletely known genus of hadrosaurid (duck-billed) dinosaur. It lived about 74.5-66 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous of North America. The name means "separated lizard" (referring to the arrangement of the cheek ...

'' as ''Kritosaurus marginatus'', which is not supported by later reviews.) *''T.'' (''

Pteropelyx ''Pteropelyx'' (meaning "winged pelvis") is a Nomen dubium, dubious genus of Late Cretaceous hadrosaurid dinosaur from the Judith River Formation of Montana, named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1889. Historically, several species were assigned to it, ...

'') ''selwyni'' (''nomen dubium'') Lambe, 1902 (based on NMC 290, a dentary with teeth, from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta; too fragmentary to assign beyond Hadrosauridae)

Paleobiology

As a hadrosaurid, ''Trachodon'' would have been a large, bipedal/ quadrupedal

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1060870 Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of North America Hadrosaurs Nomina dubia Fossil taxa described in 1856 Taxa named by Joseph Leidy Paleontology in Montana Campanian genus first appearances Campanian genus extinctions Ornithischian genera

History and classification

Species

Paleobiology

See also

References